


Wanted it to be a Game

by SkylaDoragono



Category: Persona 4
Genre: Alternate Universe, Attempted Murder, Gen, Murder, Mystery, Role Reversal
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-09-19
Updated: 2016-11-01
Packaged: 2017-12-27 00:18:07
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 54
Words: 222,193
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/972040
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SkylaDoragono/pseuds/SkylaDoragono
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The roles reversed: the hero plays the villain, while the villain plays the hero. What makes one the other, and how easily can fate be manipulated to serve one’s own ends? Written for NaNoWriMo 2012; started before Golden was released.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Prologue – The World is Full of Shit

For a country with such strict gun control laws as Japan, it is amazing how fascinated by the weapon the people are.  Just look at the pop culture; if the hero does not have some kind of sword, their main weapon is always, _always_ a gun, no exceptions.

I was no different of course; since I was a kid, I always wanted to own a gun – to point it at the bad guy and say something really cool to get them to freeze in their tracks.  That was why I enrolled in the police academy once I got out of college, and my enthusiasm had me sailing to the top of every class I was in.  It was not long before I was in the police force; I had my gun, and I could finally look like the cool guy.  I was the good guy, the happy clown that knew how to get things done and get them done right… and then there was the _mistake._

One mistake, one over enthusiastic discharge, and that all came crashing down.  It was not like I shot a civilian or anything; the man was as guilty as they come, and if I had not shot him, he probably would have been given the death penalty anyway.  He had a girlfriend, though; a stupid bitch that knew how to complain, and complain _loudly_ to the right people.  Someone had to keep her mouth shut somehow, and that "somehow" came in the form of a pretty hefty paycheck from the city government, and me being booted from the city as far as possible.

At least, that's what I kept telling myself.

That is how I ended up on a rain slicked road to the middle of no-where's-ville in a country that did not really have that much "nowhere" left.  The Yasoinaba area was known for a lot of rain almost year round, not to mention the dense fog that seemed to make a reappearance every fifty years.  It was kind of creepy if you really thought about it, but I didn't at first; I had more important things to stew over, like the fact that everything I ever wanted now had to come in the form of me being a detective of some sleepy, boring ass town.

If this was how the world repaid the cool hero, then the world was full of shit as far as I was concerned.

The closer to Inaba I got, the worse the rain got, to the point where I needed to keep the windshield wipers on my old clunker going full force in order to see.  I squinted through the window anyway; I was so far out in the boondocks, that they did not even have street lamps lining the road, and the high beams of my car did not like to be very "high" when the rain was this bad.  Sadly, having the opportunity to be "cool" did not come with a decent paycheck, and constantly repairing this piece of junk was the only thing I could afford.  Even now, I was praying under my breath, hoping the rumbling coming from the back was just because my meager possessions was weighing down the tail end, and not because the muffler was about to fall off again.

I did not let out a breath until I finally, _finally_ saw a street lamp, collapsing back against my seat as I held the steering wheel with white knuckled hands.  For awhile there, I did not think I was going to make it, but I should have known I was not out of the woods yet.  As soon as the wheels hit pavement instead of the dirt road I had been traveling on, a loud _bang_ came from the back: there went the muffler again.  I let out a groan, my forehead meeting the steering wheel, just in time to see that the gas gauge was uncomfortably close to empty.

"Of course…" I muttered under my breath, squinting through the fog and the rain.  The street lamps barely illuminated the paved street, and I could _just_ see the flickering logo of the Moel Gas Company down the long stretch of road before me.  Still, at least there _was_ a gas station in this backwoods hick town, and I headed straight for it, the back of this stupid piece of junk clunking the entire time.

I could see the gas station attendant turn toward my car as I approached, a mildly amused look on the kid's face as I pulled in, clunking the whole way.  I swear, if this kid so much as mentions the muffler when I get out…

I slammed my way out of the piece of junk, muttering a sharp, "fill it," at the kid.  I was not going to pause long enough to give the guy a chance to comment; I needed something to try and calm my nerves, and since booze was out while I still needed to drive somewhere, a coffee was just going to have to do.

A few moments later had me leaving the store, a double tall cup of joe in my hand that was already half empty, and even that was just barely enough to give me the energy I needed to get through the rest of this hellish night.  I downed another large mouthful, setting out to shove that stupid muffler back on… only when I got to the back of the car, the annoying thing had already been shoved back on, rather well at that.  I could not help but blink down at it in surprise, reaching out to test it and make sure it was really on there; damn, that reedy little kid must have been stronger than I thought – there was no way that thing was going to be falling off again anytime soon.

"Hunh…" I muttered, standing back up straight, sipping at my coffee.  Well, one less thing to be irritated about…

"Looks like you've been having a bad night."

I turned to see the kid then, and my initial thought of him being "little" was more than off.  The kid damn near towered over me – not that this was much of a shock, unfortunately – but other than his height, he was not that remarkable.  Grey hair, grey eyes, and that obnoxiously bright Moel uniform that all the attendants wore; if I had to pick him out again in a crowd, I probably would not be able to.  Still, he had manners, and was offering me a hand to shake.  It was kind of obnoxious really – backwoods town welcome for sure – but I was always the clown.  No one was allowed to know what I thought; it was the only way I put up with my asshole instructors and "superiors", catering to what they thought they needed to hear.

So, of course, I accepted the handshake.

"Don't worry, sir," the boy continued.  "Inaba is not that bad of a place.  Enjoy your stay here."

"Ah, I will.  Thanks," I replied, all the while thinking that was bullshit spouted by some country bumpkin kid.  He offered another smile before going to attend to another customer that pulled in, leaving me to watch the numbers on the pump tick up to ridiculous amounts.  Damn gas prices being so damn—

A wave of nausea hit me at that moment, and I felt myself wavering on my feet as my head suddenly became a separate part of my body, swimming off on its own.  My hand shot out, slapping against the rain slicked trunk of my car to keep myself from falling over, somehow not dropping my coffee in the process.  What the hell…?

The moment passed, and my head was suddenly back on my shoulders.  Man… what the hell was that?  I was not the kind of person to suddenly get sick for no reason; I'm a strong man, even if I have to be stuck on a cabbage diet because of my stupid paycheck.  I put a hand to my head, shaking it just as the pump snapped onto the final price: 6500 yen.  Well, there went the last of my last city paycheck.

I let out a sigh as the attendant came back to collect payment, tossing my gaze to the sky.  My time in Inaba was already off to a _fantastic_ start.


	2. Chapter One – Bad Dreams

The fog.

It was the first thing anyone would notice if they suddenly appeared in such a strange place; it was so thick he could barely see his hand in front of his face.  As it was, he could just see the floor at his feet, the red and black lines making it just vaguely stand out in the expansive white.  He reached up, rubbing the back of his neck as he wondered what was going on, a sword hanging loosely in his other hand (wait, why would he even have a sword?); was this supposed to be some kind of dream?  He could not even remember falling asleep…

_This is unexpected…_

A voice from out of nowhere made him jump, his head snapping back and forth in surprise.  What the hell…?

_So, are you the one?  Will you be the one to see through the fog?_

See through the fog…?  He squinted, confused… and somehow, the fog before him cleared to the point he could see the path much better, noting with concern that it veered off sharply before him, with only an empty nothing beyond.  If he had tried to move prior to the fog clearing out…

He took a step forward, and as soon as his dress shoe came down on the walkway, he felt a pulse shoot through him like a heartbeat.  It made him stop again, shaking, before he dared to take another step down the path.  His foot came down without incident that time, and he continued forward, following the path around.  The only thing that seemed to be there other than the fog was the echo of his footsteps, a resounding _emptiness_ making his heart feel tight in his chest…

At the end of the path was a door, or at least what he assumed was a door; there was not any kind of knob or opening mechanism that he could see.  Actually, the whole structure looked more like a tori gate that had been boarded up, but he reached out to it anyway as if that would help him make some kind of progress.  Much to his surprise, it _did;_ as soon as his fingers brushed against the cool surface, the door shifted, pulling aside to reveal the path continued on beyond.  He let out an annoyed breath, before breaking out into a run, wanting to get out of this creepy place and its creepy fog…

It was strange, but the farther he went, the more the fog seemed to lift, like his determination to make it through was chasing it away…

_…so very unexpected._

He skidded to a stop again, looking around as he tried to find the source of the voice.  It sounded… female?  Male?  He could not tell; it was so distorted that any kind of distinguishing characteristics were impossible to pick out.  He wanted to call out, demand what was so unexpected, but he found he had no voice in this dream, whatever sound that wanted to escape disappearing into the expansive fog around him.

After a moment he let out a frustrated noise, starting down the path again.  A moment more had him breaking out into a run once more, the rapid echo of his footsteps echoing back, turning into laughter that mocked him at every turn.  He tried to ignore it, but he could feel his heart tightening further, fear shuddering down his spine and threatening to send him crumbling to the path.

He came to another boarded up tori gate, and he reached out to it to open it once more…

_Dare you believe yourself ready to see what's beyond?_

He hesitated, fingers just inches away from touching the gate.  That mocking laughter echoed back at him again, making him grimace in annoyance.  He slapped his hand against the door, and it slid open without so much as acknowledging his frustration at it.  The path terminated ahead, with a shadowy figure in the very middle of the platform before him.  However, the fog was also much thicker than it was on the path, and other than the fact that the person was holding themselves like some kind of Egyptian mummy, he could not see any other distinguishing features.

 _Interesting… very interesting…_ that voice said, and he figured that this was the source.  _Show me your determination to see through the fog of lies._

Show his determination, hunh?  His other hand fell toward the hilt of the sword, holding it tight like he had been wielding the old fashioned weapon for a lot longer than just a few minutes.  He steeled himself before charging forward, arms raised in a mighty swing… and he actually felt the blade connect with something, seeing the mummy-like figure bend under the force of his attack, though otherwise it seemed unhurt.

_You can see surprisingly well through my fog… how amusing._

The mummy-like figure contorted itself strangely, and with a hiss the fog suddenly became even thicker, much like it had appeared when he first arrived in this strange place.  He squinted, trying to see, and only succeeded in just barely picking out the figure he had been confronting.  Dammit, how was he supposed to fight like this?  An annoyed noise escaped from him before he tried launching forward to attack again, only to nearly fall off balance, the sword clunking against the ground instead.  The voice responded with an amused chuckle as the fog deepened even further, closing around him tight as if it were capable of choking the life out of him.

 _It is not time for you to see the complete truth.  I will watch_ your _progress very closely, son of man…_

~.oOOo.~

Ryotaro Dojima had been lead detective of the Yasoinaba Police Department for as long as anyone cared to remember.  He was local born and raised, and had lived in the area his whole life, with the only exception being when he went to the police academy for training.  The same was true for most everyone else that ever joined the department, and outsiders were a rare and often fleeting thing.  That was why he was leaning back in his seat, the transfer papers in front of him hiding the displeased frown on his face as he stared out at the _person_ before him with a disapproving stare.  The kid – twenty-seven was enough of a "kid" in his book – was frumpy and ragged, looking like he had just crawled out of bed and fell into the first suit he had thought to pull on.  His hair did not look like it had ever seen a comb in its existence, and the fact that he was reaching over to scratch at the back of his head like a teenager asking a girl out on a date was not helping his appearance.

"A-Adachi Tohru," the new guy introduced himself.  "A-a pleasure to be here, Dojima-san."

Dojima let out a disinterested acknowledgement, eyes flicking back down to look over the paper work in his hands.  He might have been a kid, but he did not have a bad record, save the incident that got him sent here in the first place.  That, however, was more than enough to bother the hell out of him; he did _not_ need any trigger happy brats accidentally shooting anyone, inevitable death row inmate or otherwise.  He liked his quiet little country town the way it was: quiet.

"You're five minutes late on your first day," he finally began.  "You've got a lot of guts."  He paused, just long enough to give the impression that was _not_ a compliment.  At least the kid had the decency to cringe, stopping his twitching.  "My partner just retired a few weeks ago; you'll be taking his place, and I'll stick with you until you get the hang of this place."

Not that there was much to get used to in Inaba, but it was enough of an excuse to keep an eye on the kid.  He waved him over to the desk across from his; his old partner's.  It would be good enough for him, if only so he could finally sit down before he started twitching again.  Adachi seemed to catch on to that thought as he quickly sat down in the chair, looking even more like a little kid as the high back of the chair towered over his head.

"We've only got one serious case right now," Dojima continued, dropping the kid's paperwork on the desk.  "You've heard of the whole scandal involving Representative Namatame?"

"Yeah," Adachi replied, looking like he was making a conscious effort to feign interest, not that he could blame him.  He hated political issues of any kind, most of all _these._   "He was having an affair with that reporter, right?  Yamano Mayumi-san?"

Dojima nodded.  "She's here right now in Inaba, trying to stay out of the public eye, not that her attitude is making that very effective," he muttered in reply.  "She's staying at the Amagi Inn right now, and I've got a plain clothes looking out for her."

"Does she really need the protection, sir?" Adachi asked.

Dojima's brow furrowed in irritation.  "No… but reporting crews have been harassing her non-stop, and she's been… demanding.  The inn owner has already collapsed from the stress of trying to appease her.  That's why we've got an officer there more than anything; to protect the rest of the inn owners from _her."_

Something like a dark look passed over the kid's face, and Dojima hid another frown.  Somehow he got the feeling he was justified in wanting to keep a close eye on this kid.  Unfortunately, he did not have the time to dwell on it; he stood up then, grabbing his jacket from the back of his chair, slinging it over his shoulder.

"I'd break you in more, but I gotta leave," he began.  There was an awkward moment where he was not sure what else to say, before continuing.  "My nephew's coming in from the city.  Gotta pick him up.  There's a pile of paperwork for you to take care of until you leave for now."

He waved over to where there was a massive stack of paperwork waiting to be entered into the system, but no one had really bothered to do it just yet.  It was mostly minor work that no one really cared about, and Adachi seemed to realize it, because he could see the absolutely crestfallen look appear on the kid's face as he headed out of the station house.

~.oOOo.~ 

"…there's nothing here."

Seito Souzen could not help the softly spoken exclamation, standing all by himself in a train station that was completely devoid of any kind of activity, a stark contrast compared to the bustling city he had just come from.  He could feel a faint breeze, and he half expected to see a tumble weed rolling around, just because it was the obvious thing that would happen.  A moment passed before he shook the ridiculous thought out of his head, shouldering his carryon bag as he looked around.  There was supposed to be someone coming for him… or was he forgotten about again?

"Yo!"

Seito turned at the exclamation, raising an eyebrow.  The scruffy looking man in the suit that was approaching had to be his uncle, someone he supposedly met before, the last time being when he was five years old.  Too much had happened back then for him to remember clearly, so he had to take his mother's brief word on that.  Behind the man, holding onto his hand tightly, was a young girl that could not have even been ten years old yet, shyly peering out at him as the two of them came to a stop before him.

"Man, you've grown," his uncle continued, looking him up and down.  "Feels like yesterday I was helping change your diapers."

Seito's expression never changed, though on the inside he was rolling his eyes in exasperation.  When would adults learn that saying things like that was _never_ okay?

"Thank you for having me here, uncle," he said, inclining his head politely.  Dojima waved a hand at that, letting out a laugh.

"There's no need to be so formal," he replied, before glancing back to the girl hiding behind him.  He gave her a gentle nudge.  "This is my daughter.  Go on.  Introduce yourself."

The girl glanced up at him, her face growing pink as she shuffled out from behind her father.

"…Nanako," she murmured softly, shuffling back behind Dojima.  He let out an amused laugh, giving her hand a squeeze.

"Since when are you so shy?" he asked, teasing.  Nanako let out an embarrassed noise, jerking away from him and slapping him on the behind for that.  Seito just… stared at their antics; he supposed he should have found it endearing, but all that was going through his mind was how much he just wanted it to end so he could hide in whatever room he was supposed to stay in.

"You must be tired after that trip," Dojima finally said after he stopped laughing at his daughter.  "I already have your room set up at the house."

His uncle turned, motioning for him to follow him to the car, and Seito let out a private breath at that, not really in the mood to deal with more ridiculousness.  It was not long before they were on the road, and like the train station, there was not much around the town to look at; just a sleepy country town with nothing going on in it… a nice place to put someone and forget about them.  He tried not to dwell on the thought that maybe his parents would just leave him out here, instead focusing on a point outside the window and just staring at it.

It was a bit of a surprise for him when they suddenly came to a stop, and it took him a moment to realize they were not stopped at a house.  He looked up, glancing at the bright colors of the Moel gas station, before looking back inside to see that Dojima and Nanako were getting out.  A sigh escaped from him as he followed them out, stretching his legs as he stepped out onto the pavement.  Nanako was walking off for the bathroom, and Dojima had gone inside to buy something, leaving him alone with the grey haired attendant on duty.

"Are you a high school student?"

He paused, turning toward the attendant as he finished starting the gas pump, sparing him a brief nod in answer.  The attendant offered a faint smile and his hand to shake.

"You should get a job," he suggested as Seito reluctantly accepted his hand.  "There's not a lot to do around here.  At least, it's pretty empty for a teenager."

"I'll consider it," he replied, letting go as Nanako came back out from the bathroom.  The attendant went back to his work… and as soon as his back was turned, a wave of sickness hit Seito hard, making him wobble unsteadily on his feet.  He groaned softly, a hand going to his forehead as a tight feeling grasped at his chest, making it difficult to breathe…

"Are you okay?"

He managed to lift his head, turning toward Nanako.  She tilted her head, looking concerned.

"You don't look so good…"

He glanced down at her, wanting to be sarcastic and ask her how she managed to figure _that_ one out, but he held his tongue.  No use getting on anyone's bad side here; just… better to go through the year he was going to spend here and fade into the background like he usually did.  After all, he never stayed in one place for very long; with his mother and step father working as they did, he often found himself being shipped from school to school, relative to relative, with very little chance for him to get to know anyone.  What was the point; they would all be gone after a short time anyway…

Dojima returned from inside, and Seito climbed back into the car, finding that point to stare at once again.


	3. Chapter Two – Dangling from on High

"Man, what a _bitch!"_

The exclamation was the first thing Adachi was greeted with when he walked into the station house that morning.  He came to a quick stop, jumping in surprise and his coffee sloshing around in his mug.  The officers were drawn to the noise, all turning at once to stare at him like he was some kind of invader to their precious conversation.  An awkward noise escaped from him, unnerved by their glances, and he hurried over to the desk and all the work that was still left for him.

It was three days after he had been assigned to the Yasoinaba Police Department, and he was already feeling like the odd man out.  At first he thought it would be a good thing to be Dojima's partner, but that turned out to not be the case.  Apparently, he was only his partner because he felt it necessary to keep an eye on him, given his "reputation."  He would have been fine with that, if it were not for the fact that working with Dojima was a lesson in extreme old school police investigation.  It was such a pain, trying to memorize locations and people's faces, that every day so far he had been going home with a splitting headache.  He was going to forget what _real_ police work looked like at this rate…

With him out of sight behind the high back of his office chair, the conversation behind him continued as if he was not really there, though softer than when he first entered.

"…kept demanding everything under the sun," he could hear.  "Like she was some kind of royalty or something."

"So did she leave the Amagi Hotel?"

"Yeah, the manager's daughter all but threw her out; it was kind of cute really," the first cop continued; Adachi supposed this was the plain clothes that ended up having to babysit the reporter.  "Yamato-san tried to tell her that her services were substandard, and the girl told her to book it."

"Nice," another cop replied with a whistle.  "So where is she now?"

"Dunno; parents I think.  They can baby her now."

"Parents, hunh?  Isn't Namatame in town no—"

The gossiping was cut short as the door to the office area was banged open, more than just a few cops jumping in surprise as Dojima stormed into the room.  Adachi did not need to be looking at the lead detective; the rage, concern, and slight panic could be felt pouring into the room in the other man's wake.

"What are you all standing around talking for?" he demanded, sounding excessively pissed off.  "Get going!  We've got a call, and I need everyone that's not doing important work on it!  _Adachi!"_

Adachi fought back a flinch at the bark, shooting up from his chair.  "Y-yes, Dojima-san?"

Dojima forked a thumb behind him.  "Stop cowering and let's go.  Looks like you brought some trouble from the city with you."

~.oOOo.~

"Oh… damn…"

Adachi had seen a number of pretty horrifying things in his short time as a police detective.  With gun control laws so strict and smaller street gangs in the city unable to afford ways around them, people got pretty creative with how they murdered others.  He had to admit that seeing a body hanging limply over the prongs of a television antenna was a new one, and he had to fight against the urge to be sick as he watched crews cut the power to the nearby houses so the body could be safely removed.  Not that his weak stomach was going unnoticed; Dojima was giving him a sharp look from his position next to him.

"Don't start acting like a rookie on me, Adachi," he warned, and Adachi managed to pull his eyes away from the disturbing sight, trying to focus on something that was not the body.

"R-right, sorry," he muttered under his breath.  "Who found the uh… body…?"

Dojima rolled his eyes, not that Adachi noticed.  "Kid over there," he answered, nodding to where a kid with headphones dangling around his neck was sitting on the curb, his hands over his eyes.  "Got called out of school to work an extra shift at the local super store; his father's the store manager."

"Right… I'll, uh… I'll go get his story," Adachi replied, hurrying off before Dojima could roll his eyes at him again.

Adachi always hated having to deal with living victims and witnesses; they were usually whiny and weepy, and it took every bit of sincerity he could muster to actually give a damn about their problems and issues.  Seriously, who cared how upset they were, or how traumatized they were… he had to deal with this crap every day; they ought to try standing in his shoes and see how traumatized they were then.

Still, he put on his best sincere face as he knelt down before the kid with the headphones, pulling out his notepad and pen.  The kid did not really seem to be on this planet at the moment, if the fact that he still had the heels of his hands pressed over his eyes as he rocked back and forth was any clue.  Oh boy, this would be fun…

"Hey, kid?" he began, trying to keep his voice from showing the exasperation he was feeling.  "Can I get your name?"

It was a moment before the kid answered, and even then he did not lift his head.

"H-Hanamura," he mumbled.  "Hanamura Yosuke."

"Hanamura-kun, can you tell me what happened here?"

The kid finally pulled his hands away then, rubbing tears out of his eyes with the sleeve of his school jacket.  He took a moment to huddle up on himself, wrapping his arms around his legs instead, just anything to have his hands occupied.

"I-I was heading to Junes," he began.  "I was borrowing a movie from a friend, but I broke it.  I asked dad – h-he's the store manager – if I could pick up a couple extra shifts to pay for a new one."

Adachi nodded in false sympathy.  "And that's why you were here?  That's why you saw the body?"

The kid responded by burying his face in his knees, a violent shudder going through him.  "D-don't call it a body," he muttered into his legs.  "I-It's Chie… Satonaka Chie.  S-she's the friend I borrowed the DVD from…"

Adachi paused, daring a glance up at the body still dangling above them.  The power line crews had just finished their work, and the ME was climbing up a ladder to observe the body's condition before it was taken down.  Still, from this distance, it was impossible to get a clear look at the face…

"How could you tell who the… victim was?" he asked.

Hanamura raised his head slightly, glancing up at Adachi.  "It's that green jacket," he muttered.  "She's always wearing that thing, even in the summer."

Well, that sounded like as close to a positive ID they were going to get, until they notified loved ones anyway.  Adachi gave a nod to the kid, letting him know that rescue crews would be around to make sure he was all right before he could be released to go home.  Hanamura barely acknowledged him as he went back to where Dojima was standing, arms folded over his chest, pointedly not looking to where crews were finally taking the body down.

"Kid identified the body as Satonaka Chie," Adachi began, informing him of the rest of what Hanamura said.  Dojima acknowledged it all with a grim expression on his face.

"Who the hell would do this to a ki—"

Dojima was cut off as a gasp came from somewhere behind them, followed by a _thump_ as a bag fell to the ground.  Adachi was the first to turn, taking note of a plain, grey haired teen behind them, staring up at the body that was being slowly lowered from the television antenna.  If he had to pick the kid out again, he probably would not have been able to; everything about him was completely neutral, from his grey hair and eyes, to the dark school uniform.  He was pretty sure if the kid was not currently shocked at the sight of the body being taken down, his expression would even be neutral.

Dojima noticed the kid next, and he practically dropped his jacket in response to his presence.

"Seito-kun, what are you doing here?" he demanded, moving to stand before him and block the view of the limp corpse.  The boy was not exactly trying to look at it, but it took a great amount of effort for him to focus on Dojima.

"This is the only way I know home…" he began, his voice sounding neutral despite the clear shock he was in.

Dojima let out a breath, rubbing the back of his neck.  "Right… well, don't hang around here, okay?  My sister will never forgive me if I get you caught up in mess like this."

"R-right…" Seito murmured, bending down to collect his dropped school bag, before hurrying off.  He passed by Hanamura, not sparing him so much as a glance… but the other boy raised his head, following him with his eyes, a strange look on his face.

~.oOOo.~

She was dead.

She was dead and it was his fault.

He remembered her scream, the terror in her eyes as she fell in, clinging to his arm as if he would want to help her.  Of course he did not want to; he had shoved her away in the first place because she was annoying him.  All he wanted to do was to be left alone; it would be easier to just keep being empty, so he could just leave this place once everything was over.  Was that too much to ask for?  He shook her off, letting her fall in… and now she was dead.

A violent shudder wracked his body, the horror of what he had just done settling in his mind.  He did it.  He did it.  He killed a person, and no one would believe how he did it.  No one… would be able to trace how he did it…

Slowly, the shudders stopped.  Slowly, the horrors abated.  Slowly… a small smile worked its way onto his face, a faint chuckle escaping from him.  What he just did… it was the perfect crime, with no believable way for it to be traced back to anyone, let alone a quiet, normal teenager like him.

It seemed like this sleepy little town was about to get interesting…

~.oOOo.~ 

Saki Konishi let out a sigh as she made her way into school that morning, checking her phone for the umpteenth time.  Yosuke had left her multiple messages, telling her to call him back right away, that it was important.  Unfortunately for him, she did not have the advantage of being the child of the store manager of the local super store; her phone was a second rate piece of junk, and she did not get his messages until the late evening.  The last of the messages had disturbed her – something about how he knew who killed Satonaka and he had proof – and she had tried to call him back multiple times with no luck.  She did not know if he was just doing all that in a vain need for attention; he always did try to make himself cooler than he was, in a desperate need to appeal to her. She was fairly certain that was all a hoax, seeing as he had yet to return her calls…

…but how _scared_ he sounded in that last message…

She was interrupted from her thoughts as she looked down the way, where Chie Satonaka and her best friend, Yukiko Amagi, had lockers next to each other.  It was a small miracle that Yukiko was even in school that morning, and as she went about the usual routine of changing out her shoes and gathering her books and homework, she looked more like a zombie than a functional human being.  Saki debated approaching her, but thought better of it; they did not know each other very well, and she doubted sympathy from a virtual stranger would help her much in her current state.

Besides, she was worried about Yosuke, who was one of Yukiko's classmates; if he turned up missing…

Saki shook her head, forcing herself not to think like that as she made her way over to her third year classroom.  The day went on like it always did, with professors droning on and on about various lectures that she needed to learn… but she could not focus that day to save her life.  That last message, the news about Satonaka's death yesterday.  If the two were related…

The familiar ding of the PA system coming on made her jump out of her thoughts, and all heads turned to the speaker that began broadcasting their elderly principal's voice.

"Everyone, there will be a school assembly in the gym before break period," his raspy voice came, shaking slightly.  "All students are to immediately report to the gym.  Attendance to this assembly is mandatory."

A feeling of dread passed over Saki as her classmates murmured amongst themselves, wondering what could be going on.  She found herself clutching at her phone, tucked away in her skirt pocket, as she filed in line after the others, going all the way down to the first floor of the gym, where the stage had been moved out, and the podium was set up for a speech.  Their principal was already at the microphone, waiting patiently for the gym to fill.  Professors went up to join him as their classes filed in, conversing softly amongst themselves, the expressions of some turning to ones of shock.

The principal finally cleared his throat once everyone had gathered, silence hanging thickly in the large room.

"Everyone, if I may have your attention," he began, speaking in that slow rasp that he always had for school announcements like this.  "As you may well have heard on your televisions by now, we have the misfortune of one of our students, Satonaka Chie, being taken from us yesterday.  Now I have just been informed by the police that another of our student body has been taken from us: Hanamura Yosuke."

Time felt like it stopped for Saki at that moment; she could not breathe, could not see, could not hear… it felt like ages before she was aware of her hand clenching so tight around her cell phone that the edges were digging into her skin.  She forced her hand to unclench, yet she still took the small mobile device out, staring at that last message.

Hanamura was dead… and he knew who killed him.

~.oOOo.~

Adachi stared blankly at the teenage girl that was in front of him, clutching to her cell phone like it was some kind of life preserver.  Granted, he probably should not have been shocked that some teenagers would come forward, but he was half expecting other _guys_ to pop in to tell the police that they had received messages from the last victim to be found dangling from a TV antenna.  He did not think a kid that pathetic would have had a girlfriend, let alone one he knew well enough to give the information she was claiming.

"He… contacted you?" he repeated, trying to process that.  She did not take too well to his bewilderment, looking like she was going to snap his head off.

"That's what I said," she replied, forcing out some kind of respect, though barely.  "He contacted me several times last night, and the last message he left made it sound like he knew who killed Satonaka, and was going to confront them!"

Adachi paused, looking around to where the other detectives in the room were staring at the two of them, one or two hiding amused looks behind folders.  Somehow, he managed to keep back a groan; why was all of this shit happening to him…?

"A-all right, come this way…" he began, motioning for her to follow him.

He took her to one of the interrogation rooms; it was dusty from lack of use, and looked more like a storage closet compared to the proper cold steel and empty rooms of the city precincts.  He motioned for her to sit at the table before he took a seat himself, but she was too agitated, instead opting to pace back and forth in front of a massive big screen TV that was used for… well, who the hell even knew.  Seriously, why did a sleepy town police station have a bigger television than he could ever afford?  There was something wrong with that…

"Can I get your name again?" Adachi asked, pulling out his notepad as he hid his disgust at the whole situation.

"Konishi Saki," she replied, stopping her pacing as her grip on her cell tightened.

"And your relationship to the victims?"

"I didn't know Satonaka very well; just that she was friends with Hana-chan," she answered.  "I work with him at Junes."

So, not just teen romance, but work romance?  It was so cliché, Adachi was sure he was going to be sick at that.  He shook the thought out of his head, refusing to dwell on it; kids were stupid anyway – lovers one minute, bitter enemies the next, friends online the next.  It was a vicious, boring cycle, and sadly it was not the first time he had to deal with such crap.

"And the message he left you?"

Saki managed to loosen her grip enough to flip the cell phone over in her hand, turning up the volume and navigating her way through the menus back to her voicemail.  The last message left for her began playing a moment later, and Adachi could easily identify the voice of the kid he had interviewed on the street the other day, despite the nervous whisper the message was in.

 _"Konishi-senpai, it's me again.  I've got him; I've got the bastard that did that to Satonaka.  He's here right now, a-and… and I don't know what to do.  I'm gonna confront him… I guess.  Look, if this doesn't… end well, I've got the proof in—"_ The message cut off for a second, before Hanamura's voice returned.  _"Shit, I've gotta go; please stay safe, Konishi-senpai."_

The message abruptly cut off, and Saki stared at the phone in her hands, the haunting message playing over again in her mind… or something lame like that, Adachi did not know or really care for that matter.  While it was helpful in the respect of figuring out _why_ the kid was murdered, it did not tell him much anything else, like who the killer was or where Hanamura was when he sent that phone call.  In essence, he still had absolutely nothing to help with this damn case.

"Do you know where he was when he called you?" he asked, trying to get _something._ "Or where he could have hidden this 'proof'?"

Assuming it still existed; it was possible whomever had killed him had already found and destroyed the evidence by now.  Not surprisingly, Saki shook her head, pocketing her cell phone again as Adachi let out a sigh, forcing an encouraging smile on his face.

"Thank you, Konishi-san.  I'm sure this information will help," he lied through his teeth, already knowing that this information was just going to be a footnote in the whole investigation.

Saki seemed to get that impression, or at the very least, did not buy his false sincerity.  She narrowed her eyes at him, and Adachi could almost picture anime-like steam coming out of her ears.

"…you're not going to do anything, are you?" she accused.  "I have proof that Hana-chan knew who killed him and had evidence, and you're not doing anything!"

Oh boy, here it comes; Adachi raised his hands, standing up and approaching her.  "I'm sorry, Konishi-san," he began, even though he was not really sorry, "but there really isn't much to go on.  All I can get from this is that we know why he was murdered now.  But without knowing where he was or what he did with the evidence, there's not really much we can do about this.  Besides, getting this information from a lover isn't exactly reliable either…"

There was a moment where Saki's eyes slowly widened… and Adachi had about a second to realize that maybe he might have made a mistake before his cheek started burning.  He put a hand up to his face, his mouth twisting into an almost comical expression, but really, on the inside he wanted to slap the stupid bitch back.  There was no way in hell he deserved a smack for that comment!

"Look, I know you're upset, but—" he began, fighting the urge to shout by gritting his teeth, but that did not help his situation at all.  She raised a hand to strike him again, and he managed to grab her wrist that time, fumbling as he tried to keep her from attacking him.  "Look, kid!  I don't want to arrest you for attacking an offic—"

He found himself cut off again as the two of them struggled, Saki losing her balance as her foot struck one of his.  An annoyed hiss escaped from Adachi as the two of them fell toward the big screen television, and he had a moment of panic, bracing himself for impact and the sound of tinkling glass that was sure to follow…

Instead, he found no resistance, his head falling forward to strike against the frame of the television.  He swore under his breath, and had a split second to see that the lower half of the teenager's body was dangling on the outside of the TV, legs flailing as she tried to find some kind of purchase to keep herself from falling further.  He could feel her death grip on his arm, which had also sunk into the television screen along with the upper half of her body, each limb disappearing into pools of light with nothing coming out on the other side of the unit.

"What the fu—"

That was all the time he had to remark on the impossible situation, as gravity took over, dragging him into the television along with her.  The interrogation room was left empty, with no indication that anything strange and unusual had just occurred…


	4. Chapter Three – Tug Your God Out

Everything was bathed in white, and Adachi could hear Saki screaming in terror ahead of him as they fell through the big white nothing, passing by the black frames of other television sets.  The last frame flew by them, and the white dissipated like the fog on a spring morning, revealing a yellow and black floor painted like a target, with various body outlines breaking the pattern.  He flailed, trying to worm himself around, but as Saki fell on her ass and bounced, he ended up falling on his face and flopping over.

He had to note, with a small amount of dry humor, that he landed on the dead center of the target.

"Wh…what just happened…?" he heard Saki murmur somewhere behind him, but he was more concerned about himself than her.  Gingerly, Adachi lifted himself off of the target floor, reaching up to touch his nose, checking for a break.

Other than Saki shuffling around, the place they had landed in was dead silent; there was not even the sound of air moving.  A dense fog covered the area, making it difficult to see no more than a few feet ahead of them.  Various steel pillars shot up into the sky, disappearing into the fog, and studio lights hung from them, angled down to illuminate the target area.  The sky above, what little they could see of it through the haze, was an unnatural yellow, and it did not look like there was any kind of sun or land beyond the target floor.

Adachi pushed himself up from the floor, rubbing the rest of his face as he looked around.  "Where are we…?"

"I-I don't know," Saki murmured, clutching her hands to her chest as she looked around.  She had already stood up, casting fearful glances at the haze around her.  She paused after a moment, turning back to him.  "What's a TV like that doing in a police station?"

Adachi let out an annoyed grunt, fumbling up to his feet.  "How am I supposed to know?  I just transferred here."

Saki cast him a disapproving glance, before looking around again.  "…we need to get out of here," she replied, her voice wavering as she fought to stay calm.

Adachi was not about to disagree with her, and as much as he wanted to just leave her there for dragging him into something like this, it would look bad if he returned to the station house without the girl he had been interviewing.  He reached into his jacket, pulling his gun from his holster and checking the chamber, before stepping forward; at least he would have the opportunity to be the cool cop, just like before this whole stupid transfer happened.

"Stick behind me, Konishi-san," he ordered.  "And when I tell you to hide, listen."

Saki glanced at him, clearly not taking him seriously.  He shot her with an annoyed grimace when she did not immediately agree, drawing a sigh out of her before she huddled back behind him.  Adachi turned around, allowing himself a smug expression as he started forward, picking one of the four walkways that led off the target area.

He followed the walkway carefully, heading down the linear path until he came to what looked like an apartment complex on the outside.  He reached out as they passed by doors, carefully testing knobs, only to find every door he came across was locked.  Adachi was about to give up and go back, when the last door at the very end of the walkway yielded, allowing him to enter the room on the other side.  Saki huddled back, watching warily as he darted in first, swinging his gun around left and right, half expecting something to jump out at them… but nothing ever came.

She entered once she saw him holster his gun again, looking around the room.  It was… empty, completely and utterly empty, to the point where it did not even feel like the walls, floor, and ceiling were really there.  It made her feel dizzy, that feeling of _emptiness,_ and she had to lean against a wall to steady herself.  Adachi glanced back at her, more of a courtesy than anything – he did not want to drag her unconscious body around with him if she passed out – before casting his gaze around the room as well.  The only thing of real significance was the window that took up the majority of the wall, looking out at the big yellow nothing of the outside; the window was broken, a brilliant spider web-like pattern shooting through the glass that seemed vaguely familiar, but Adachi could not put his finger on where he had seen it before.

"What kind of place is this…?" Saki asked softly, hugging her arms to her chest.

"A dead end," Adachi replied, his tone dry to hide the fact that he was privately freaking out about all this.  "We're not getting anywhere here…"

He headed out the door first, with Saki taking one last glance around the empty room, before following close behind.  They got about halfway back down the walkway, the door of the empty room swinging shut behind them on its own, before Adachi stopped short, spying some kind of silhouette against the fog.  Saki did not need to be told to hang back, taking several steps backward as he raised his gun, pointing it at the strange shape.

"You there!  Hands up!" he ordered.  The silhouette paused in confusion… but it continued to approach, a strange egg shape becoming definable in the fog.  It was an hour long minute before they were able to see just _what_ the thing was, and Adachi half lowered his gun in confusion.

It _looked_ like a bear, but not a real one; it was more like something that one would see at a circus or in the possession of a small child.  Adachi stared at it in confusion, slowly continuing to lower his gun until it was pointed at the ground.  Saki shuffled up to stand beside him, staring at the strange bear creature, not sure what to make of the thing either.

"What… are you?" she asked, still half hanging behind Adachi.

"I'm Teddie," the creature replied… and Saki let out a screech in his ear in response, retreating back toward the door that lead to the empty room.

_"It talks!"_

The bear, meanwhile, cowered back, covering its head with its stubby arms… which really did not it all that much good.  Adachi let out a sigh of exasperation; why exactly was he dealing with this again?  Stupid teenager, stupid television, stupid bear…  Still, he had to at least _pretend_ to give a damn, and he tried to plaster on his best sincere face.

"D-don't y-yell at me…" the bear whimpered as he holstered his gun, stepping forward.

"Look, it's all right," he said, holding out his hands for the bear to see that he was unarmed and he would not be hurting him… any time soon at least.  That might change.  Still, the bear seemed to buy it, because it peered up at him curiously.  "Maybe you could tell us where this place is?"

The bear paused, before lowering its arms.  "This place is what it is.  It doesn't have a name, or a location.  It just exists."

Well, that was entirely unhelpful; Adachi grimaced at that, not able to keep up the nice guy act after that non-answer.

"L-look, you guys shouldn't be here," the bear continued, waving its arms.  "It's bear-y dangerous here!"

…really?  Did he really just hear that right…?  Adachi let out an exasperated noise, rubbing a hand over his face.  Okay, he needed to focus and stop thinking how stupid this was, because dear _god,_ that was horrible.

"How dangerous could it be?" he asked.  "There's nothing here, not that we could see anything if there was."

Teddie looked confused at that, his ears wiggling back and forth on his head, before he stepped forward, pulling something out of… somewhere.  Adachi did not really want to think about it, especially since the bear was offering whatever it was to him.  He stared at it for a moment, before taking it, revealing it to be a pair of glasses.

"T-take these, and get out of here," Teddie said as Adachi unfolded the glasses, slipping them on.  As soon as the lenses passed over his field of view, it was like the fog around him did not even exist; he could see as clearly as he could in the real world.  He let out a surprised noise, turning around to look back at Saki… only to see something dark wriggling around on the door behind her, slowly starting to take form…

"Konishi-san!" he shouted, reaching for his gun as her head jerked to where he was looking at.  She let out another scream as his gun came up, shooting off two quick shots at the wriggling thing.  The dark thing jerked and jiggled, but otherwise seemed unaffected as it looked like it was swiveling around, revealing a blue mask before popping out from the door.  It hovered in the air for a moment… before it suddenly rolled around, a massively wide mouth snapping open, with a huge tongue rolling out of it.

The bear creature let out a scream himself, wailing about how, "they were here, they were here," before running off as fast as his stubby legs could carry him.  Saki was not that far behind, yelling at Adachi as he tried to shoot the strange thing again, with no luck.  He finally gave up, turning and running behind her as more of the dark creatures started to grow from the ground and walls, popping up into the air to chase after them.

The three of them ran, fumbling along as they made their way down the path.  The creatures were going to have none of that, however, as they started appearing before them, herding them off the path and into what might have been a playground at some point, if the twisted sheet of metal that was a slide and the bars that might have been a jungle gym or a swing were any indication.  Even down there they were not safe, and Saki was forced to come to a skidded stop as more of the round things with mouths and slobbering tongues appeared.  She screamed again, backing up until she was pressed against Adachi, who had turned around to cover the swarm at their back.

"W-what do we do!?" she demanded, though he could not answer, aiming his gun uselessly at the monsters, but not firing; his gun only carried five shots, and he had already wasted three of them on things that did not even seem affected by the bullets.  He did not _know_ what to do; fighting against random monsters that appeared out of nowhere was not exactly something they covered in the police academy.

"Dammit…!"

Suddenly, everything seemed to… just _stop,_ and the world around him turned a hazy shade of red.  He felt himself freeze as well, more in fear than anything else, because he knew what was going to happen next.

He was going to die here.

_Thou art I…_

The words came from the depths of his soul; piercing through his mind and drawing a shuddering gasp out of him, making him shake all over.  What the hell… now he was hearing voices?  It was not enough that he was going to die, now he needed to be hearing voices too?!

_Thou art I… and I am thou…_

Something stirred, deep in his chest, spreading a warm feeling that penetrated deep into his body and into the depths of his very soul.  It made him slowly lower his gun, feeling something that was almost completely foreign to him and yet vaguely familiar at the same time…

Hope.

"Per…"

Instinct took over, and he reached up to the sky.  He could dimly hear Saki let out a surprised noise, stumbling away from him as the blue light erupted like fire from within him, burning brightly as even the monsters hung back.

_Thou hast opened thine eyes…_

"…so…"

The brilliance of his soul gathered up above him, forming a strange looking card.  On one side was what looked like a mask, completely expressionless and divided in color down the center, resembling yin and yang.  The other side however, depicted a man with a satchel over his shoulder, followed by a dog.  It seemed familiar, and as soon as that thought came to him, something in the back of his head told him it was his Arcana.  Arcana… like in the tarot?  That cult stuff that people babbled about and he did not believe a damn thing about?  Could this get anymore out there?

_…now, open the door!_

"…na!"

His hand clenched, crushing the Arcana card in it.  It shattered like glass… and then his soul exploded around him, bringing with it a sensation like he was flying through the air and subject to the best high ever all at once.  Adachi let out a breath, feeling like he was breathing for the first time, seeing for the first time, as the fire of his soul gathered behind him.  It coalesced into the form of a man, monstrous in size with a mask over its face, concealing all but the beady yellow eyes that were currently looking down at him.  Its black punk jacket, strapped to its chest with a police man's cross belt, fluttered around it as it settled down from the explosive summoning.  A ridiculously huge nodachi was clenched in its hand, and once the charged air around them settled it hovered behind him, as if waiting for commands.

Really, Adachi felt he _should have_ been frightened of this masked warrior that just, for all intents and purposes, appeared out of nowhere, but the high from summoning it had not worn off yet.  The monsters that surrounded him were not going to give him that chance either, as a few of the more daring ones surged forward at once.  Still relying on instinct, Adachi raised his hand, and the monstrous warrior responded, a clawed hand snapping out and impaling the closest monster right through its mouth.  The creature drew his hand back, monster and all, before snapping it back out, flinging the monster off and into the waiting mouth of another that thought it could get a lucky shot in.

Adachi let out a breath; this was amazing.  This feeling of power, being able to so easily destroy the things that even his gun could not handle… it was sending a tingle of delight through his body, making it difficult to breathe.  He reached up, loosening the collar of his shirt, when another one of the monsters took advantage of the distraction, launching itself forward and latching onto the warrior's face.  He let out a cry of pain, feeling like it was his own face that was being chomped on; naturally, that creature had come out of his soul, had it not?  That meant that whatever damage it suffered…

"Tch… get _lost!"_ he snapped, and the warrior ripped the creature trying to eat its head off, fling it at another before spinning around, its sword slashing through several at once.  Adachi held onto that determination, that drive to see those monsters destroyed, and the warrior kept on attacking, tearing them to shreds.

There were still quite a number of monsters left, and this warrior he had summoned could only do so much with just a sword at its disposal.  Adachi could feel it deep inside him, that there was more to what this thing could do, but he could not figure out how to do it.  It had him stumped for the moment as he stared, flinching in pain as one of the monsters latched onto the warrior's arm before it could shake it off.  Maybe a name… he swore he read somewhere once that names could hold power over others?  If he knew the name of this creature he just summoned… it was there, he knew, on the fringes of his soul…

_"…Izanagi!"_

That did it; the warrior hovered back, reaching out a clawed hand.  The heavens themselves responded, opening up and raining lightning down on the remaining monsters.  They splattered, ripped to shreds by Izanagi's power, and whatever monsters that remained out there seemed to get the hint that this was not someone to mess with.

Adachi let out a shuddering breath, slowly sinking to his knees as he finally came down from that amazing high.  He looked up, his eyes meeting with the yellow of Izanagi's, before the warrior nodded as if acknowledging him, disappearing into a wave of blue that settled over him, returning to the sea of his soul.  He let out another breath, his body trembling from the exhausting experience, before he became aware of a small sound behind him.

"A…Adachi…san…?"

He glanced back, seeing Saki where she had fallen, staring at him in shock; oh, right, he had forgotten she was there.  A moment passed, before he offered her a smirk, and for the first time since he had learned he was being banished to Inaba, he felt like the hero cop again.

~.oOOo.~

_Such a curious development…_

In the fog of lies they watched, the silent observer, the true puppet master.  They had their representatives, each one capable of showing her what humanity was capable of, what humanity truly desired.  Yet they did not take on the roles they were meant for.  Something was disrupting the paths of fate, blurring them together to the point that even they could not tell where they led…

…but for their powers to be disrupted to _this_ extent…

_Most curious indeed…_


	5. Chapter Four – The Magician's Empress

_"Adachi!"_

He had just entered the station house, coffee in one hand and donut in the other, when the _bellow_ came from the other side of the room.  Adachi flinched, a feeling of dread settling over him as his gaze found its way over to Dojima standing by his desk, an infuriated scowl on his face.  He put on the best innocent act he could muster, though on the inside he was fuming.  He knew exactly what this was about, and he had been anticipating it since last night, trying to come up with a believable excuse as to why he spent _hours_ alone in an interrogation room with an undocumented witness.  There was no way he could tell anyone that the majority of that time had been spent running away from monsters after falling into the television; he would be forced to turn in his badge and gun immediately, and he could not have that happening.

He shuffled over to his partner nervously, hoping his excuse would hold up.  "Y-yes, Dojima-san?"

His stammering just seemed to add to Dojima's irritation.  "Why the hell do I have to hear that you were interrogating a witness for hours, _and_ you didn't document it!?"

Adachi flinched.  "S-sorry, sir.  We weren't done until late, and doing the paperwork slipped my mind—"

 _"That's not an excuse!"_ Dojima snapped, making Adachi shuffle back.  "You're not a rookie, dammit!  You should know better than this!"

"S-sorry, sir," he stammered, holding up his occupied hands defensively.  "I-it won't happen again, I swear!"

Dojima spared him another glare, before going over to his own desk and sitting down.  Adachi allowed himself a breath – dodged a bullet there – before settling down to the mound of paperwork that had become his life; after yesterday, he much preferred the paperwork… at least at the moment.  Silence hung thickly between the two of them, before the elder detective finally spoke.

"What did that witness have to say yesterday anyway?"

Adachi looked up at that.  "Not much, really," he answered; at least that was not a lie.  "She knew the last victim, Hanamura-san.  He left her a message, but all it really told us was it's possible he knew who killed him.  I spent most of the time trying to get her to stop crying."

Dojima let out a faint, "Hn," shuffling through the mess on his desk, before dropping a folder in front of him.  Adachi blinked at it, looking up at the other detective in surprise, before picking it up and flipping through the contents within.

"ME's report just came in," Dojima explained as he flipped through the paperwork.  Even though Dojima kept explaining, he already had almost been expecting what he was reading over: there was no cause of death that the medical examiner could find.  For all intents and purposes, the victims had just up and died, for no reason what so ever, and were already dead before being hung where they were found.

"Seen anything like this in the city before?" Dojima asked, raising an eyebrow at his lack of response.

"Nothing like it…" Adachi admitted, looking up… and then looking _past_ him to see a familiar face entering the station…

Oh _hell_ no.

"E-excuse me, Dojima-san!" he exclaimed, suddenly shooting up from his seat so quickly it actually made the other detective jump.  Adachi practically sprinted for the door, grabbing the girl that had entered and pulling her out of the view of the other detectives.

Saki Konishi let out an affronted noise, glaring at the detective as he pulled her around.  "What are you doing?!" she hissed.

"I should be asking you that!" he hissed in return, shuffling off toward the interrogation rooms with her as quickly as possible.  "You can't just waltz in here any time you feel like!  This is a police station!"

"I'm pretty sure I can, especially with what's going on!" Saki snapped back at him, letting out another yelp as Adachi shoved her into the room they were in yesterday.  He paused then to look around, making sure no one saw them, before entering the room after her, locking it behind him.  She whirled on him as soon as the lock clicked, pointing a furious finger in his face.  "We _have to_ do something about this!  We can't just leave this with the rest of the police; they wouldn't believe either of us!"

"Exactly why you shouldn't be here!" Adachi snapped back.  "If you keep coming here dragging me away from work with this TV crap, then _someone will notice!"_

"So what are you going to do?" Saki demanded.  "Nothing?  Are you just going to forget what you promised Teddie?"

Adachi groaned at that reminder, planting a hand over his face.

~.oOOo.~

"Hunh?  You guys are all right?  Wh-what happened to the Shadows?"

It was taking a supreme amount of effort not to punch the stupid bear.  Somehow the thing had gotten separated from them once the monsters had herded them off to the play area, and the bear had returned to the target stage they first arrived in.  Fortunately, Saki opening her big mouth helped keep his temper more or less in check.

"This guy destroyed them," she replied, pointing to him before turning.  "What did you call that thing?  'Persona'?"

Adachi let out an awkward noise at that, rubbing the back of his neck.  "Uh, yeah…"

Teddie's ears wiggled, looking up at Adachi in awe… and were those sparkles in his eyes?  "Wow, sensei; you must be really strong!"

Sensei, hunh?  Well, it was about time someone showed him some kind of respect!

"No, he's just really lucky," Saki replied almost immediately, completely ruining the moment.  Adachi shot her an irritable look, trying to resist the urge to snap at her.  He had to keep reminding himself that he was a police detective, and verbally biting the head off of the public would not make him look very good… no matter how much he wanted to.

Teddie wiggled his ears again, still looking happy at the fact that Adachi had been able to beat up the monsters, before his expression turned serious… or at least, as serious as someone in a bear costume could get anyway.

"Ohhh… but you should still get out of here!" he exclaimed.  "The Shadows are beary upset with all the people that have come here lately.  It could get grizzly again!"

This bear's puns were starting to get beary painful.  Both Adachi and Saki managed to have twin looks of exasperation on their faces, though she shook hers off sooner.

"Shadows?  Is that what those things are?" she asked, getting a nod out of the bear, but Adachi was more preoccupied with something else the creature said.

"Wait, wait," he began.  "You said there were other people here?  Was it a girl and a boy?"

Teddie tilted his head curiously… which, given his egg shape, made it look like his whole body was tilting over.  He reached up, scratching at his head first, before replying.

"I'm not sure.  Just that there were two people recently, and they got the Shadows _beary_ upset."

Saki glanced up at Adachi, though the cop was more preoccupied with his own thoughts.  Recently… it probably was those two kids that had died in the last few days.  It sounded like the Shadows killed them here, and somehow their bodies ended up spat out in the real world on electronic poles.  Knowing that, as well as the information Saki had, it was a safe assumption that someone had deliberately pushed those kids in.  It was ridiculously crazy, and there was no way anyone sane would believe him if he came to them with this kind of information, but what other explanation for those murders could he come up with, knowing all this?  Besides, what kind of sick, twisted bastard would do that…?

"…can't we try to help?" Saki was saying, drawing his thoughts back to the present as she motioned to him.  "He's a police officer, after all; he needs to solve these murders in the real world."

Wait, what was he being volunteered for?  Adachi let out an awkward noise as Teddie wiggled his ears at him.

"You're a cop, sensei?  That's cool!" he exclaimed, a beaming smile on his weird little face.  Great, now he had no way of backing out of this; Adachi bit back a sigh, reaching back to rub the back of his neck.

"Well… uh, yeah," he said after a moment.  "I guess I don't have much of a choice, since it's my job and all…"  That sigh finally escaped then.  "…man, how am I supposed to explain all this…?"

~.oOOo.~

"…I didn't exactly promise anything, I just said I didn't have any other choice," Adachi grumbled, but he knew this was an argument he was not going to win any time soon.  Saki knew it too, if the little triumphant look on her face was any clue.  Stupid, stuck up little…

He cut that thought off before he could get any farther with it, knowing that he would start saying things he would regret later if he did not.  A sigh escaped from him as he pulled out his gun, checking the chamber, before snapping it back into his holster; it had not done much good against the Shadows, but it was the only weapon he had other than that Persona he had called on, and he was not entirely sure if he would be able to do that again.  As soon as they left the TV, he had not been able to feel its presence like he could inside; he needed to be ready to defend himself if he had to.

"Why do you even want to go back in there?" he asked as he started for the TV, pressing a hand against the screen.  Sure enough, it started to sink inside, just like the last time, though he drew it back before it could disappear completely.

"Isn't it obvious?" Saki replied, folding her arms over her chest.  "Hana-chan _died_ in there, just because he knew Satonaka.  There has to be some clue he left in there about his murderer."

Adachi rolled his eyes skyward, taking a step back.  He wanted to tell her to get lost, to forget about this stupid television stuff; but at the same time, if he kept up with it, if he solved this mystery, then maybe he would be recognized for his amazing deductive skills and returned to his old appointment.  It was worth a shot, if nothing else.

"Right, but you shouldn't be coming with me," he continued to object.  "You're a civilian; if you get hurt, it's on my ass, and with what's going on, it's not like I can tell people _how_ you got hurt."

"I can take care of myself," she replied sharply, prompting him to roll his eyes.  Right, she can take care of herself.  He was not aware that screaming as loud as possible qualified as taking care of oneself.  "Besides," she continued, "I came prepared."

She lifted her school skirt up a bit, revealing a butcher knife strapped to her leg.  Adachi's eyes widened, taking an unconscious step back.

"Whoa, what the hell!?" he exclaimed.Not that he did not appreciate the view, but…  "What were you thinking, coming into a _police station_ like that?!"

Saki turned a bit pink, as if just realizing that probably was not a good idea.  "I-it's not like anyone would have looked!"

Adachi planted a hand over his face, wanting to scream.  Why, why, why; why did he have to put up with this crap?!  Saki did not give him a chance to protest against the mental abuse she was putting him through, already starting for the TV.

"We've wasted enough time," she said, putting her hand against the TV… only to have it stop at the screen.  She stared at it in disbelief, tapping against the screen with her knuckle.  "…it's not working?"

"What?" Adachi asked, maybe sounding a little more hopeful than he should have.  Maybe if the portal to the other world was closed, he could happily ignore everything that had happened yesterday.  He went up to her, placing a hand on her shoulder… and as soon as he touched her, her hand sank into the screen.  Saki jerked it out just as quickly, staring at her hand like there was something wrong with it, before turning her gaze up to him.

"It's you!" she exclaimed.  "The TV isn't special, it's you!"

Adachi let out an exasperated noise, his shoulders slumping.  This was so not fair…

"Lucky me…" he muttered under his breath.  Saki fixed him with an annoyed look, her hand snapping up to latch onto his wrist before ducking down, taking a step into the TV.  With all the reluctance in the world, Adachi ducked down as well, allowing himself to be dragged in after her.

The passage into the TV bathed them in white, the black television frames flying past them, before they were able to step out onto the other side this time.  Adachi paused as his shoes clicked against the target-painted floor, glancing back at the stack of three TVs that Teddie had magicked into existence so they could leave this strange world.  With it left up like that, it must have acted as a focus point so they could easily appear in the same place instead of fall in face first; good thing for that too, because he did not think his face could take more abuse like that.

"You're back!"

They turned as the bear creature waddled up to them, ears wiggling happily.  Saki ducked down slightly, reaching over to scratch the weird critter behind the ears, earning herself a happy sounding growl.  Adachi took a breath, unable to keep his eyes from rolling skyward, though he did manage to keep back the sarcastic comment that was threatening to jump off the edge of his tongue.

"Are you guys here to look for clues?" Teddie continued, looking up at Adachi hopefully.  "The Shadows have been beary restless today… it might be dangerous!"

Adachi opened his mouth, ready to turn around and go right back to the real world, but Saki beat him to it once again:

"It's okay, Teddie.  We're not afraid."

Speak for yourself; Adachi gave the back of her head a bland look, before glancing around.  Nothing had changed from yesterday… he had to wonder if this area ever did get any different.

"Teddie, the last time the Shadows got upset before we came here," Saki began, "do you know where it was?  Can you take us there?"

Teddie looked uncertain at that, a hand going to his large mouth as his ears twitched.  "I could, but…"

She gave him the most sincere smile she could.  "Please, Teddie.  It's important."

Somehow, Adachi did not want to think of _how,_ the bear creature turned a brilliant shade of red.  After a moment, he clasped his hands behind his back, rocking back and forth happily.

"W-e-e-ll, if Saki-chan says so, then okay!" he exclaimed, before he suddenly spun around, his nose twitching as he sniffed around.  The two of them stared at the bear in confusion, not sure what he was doing, before he pointed a dramatic hand down one of the walkways.

"It's this way!"

"Are you sure?" Adachi asked, looking utterly confused.

"Of course!  My nose knows all!" Teddie exclaimed, toddling off in the direction he was pointing.  Adachi grunted, rolling his eyes skyward again as Saki got up, running after the bear.  He was not that far behind her, bringing up the rear, though he was more preoccupied with keeping an eye on their surroundings so they could make their way back.  No way he trusted this crazy bear to be able to make it back to the exit easily.

He was so preoccupied that he did not realize Saki stopped in front of him until he plowed into her backside.  She was too shocked to yell at him for it, and it did not take him long to figure out why: they had somehow arrived in Inaba… but at the same time, it _was not_ Inaba at all.  They were on the main street of the shopping district, but it looked more like a bomb had gone off, as all the buildings around them were either completely annihilated or in such a state of decay that there was no way anyone had lived in them recently.  Adachi spun around, catching the sight of the Moel gas pump hood sticking out at an angle, like a dying man reaching up to the sky, before following her gaze down the street, to where the "J" of the Junes Department Store could just be seen in the distance.

Adachi let out a worried noise, grabbing the glasses Teddie had given him on their first trip into the TV and slipping them on.  His vision cleared, and it seemed that there really was only the "J" left on the building, or at least the majority of it.  Something about it… something told him they needed to go there, that that was where they were going to find clues…  Could it have been some super awesome detective sense?

…well, no; now that he thought about it, he remembered the Hanamura kid was the Junes manager's son.  Damn.

"Let's check out Junes," he said, pointing to the store in the distance.  "If there's any clue, it'd be there, right?"

Saki looked uncertain for a moment, like she did not want to go to some disfigured representation of the place she worked at, before she finally nodded.  Adachi took point as she hung back, leading the way down the cracked and crumbling street, past overturned cars and trees that looked like they had just given up the will to live, their limbs sagging down toward the street in their disappointment before withering away.  He had to climb over a barricade of cars, turning to help Teddie and Saki over, and jump over a small, deep gap in the sidewalk before they finally got to the Junes property.  Even when they got close enough to see the entrance, it was clear they would not be able to get very far; the glass doors were shattered, and they could see that several floors had fallen in.

"Are there other ways into the building?" Adachi asked, having not had the opportunity to visit the local superstore yet.

"There's an employee entrance in the back…" Saki murmured faintly, unsettlingly quiet at the sight of the ruined building.

Adachi turned away so she could not see him roll his eyes.  "Right, let's go."

She took point then, leading them around the building to where the employee entrance was.  Adachi paused briefly as they walked around, glancing behind him, feeling like there was a pair of eyes watching the three of them.  Even with the glasses keeping the fog from clouding his vision, however, he could not see anyone, and dismissed the feeling quickly in favor of keeping up with Saki and Teddie.

The employee entrance was thankfully free of serious debris, but Adachi still needed to shove the door open, a broken locker keeping it from being opened easily.  He entered first, Saki and Teddie huddling behind him as they carefully picked their way into the building.  The door swung closed behind them as they paused just inside, Saki letting out an uncertain noise as she looked around at the employee lounge that she had been in every day since being hired, taking in the broken tables and the flickering lights of the dysfunctional vending machines.

"This is so wrong…" she murmured faintly, hugging her arms to her chest.

"This is making me beary nervous…" Teddie murmured faintly.

Adachi was not liking the feeling of the place either; it felt… empty, like the room they had encountered the other day.  He had to resist the urge to shudder as he turned around, trying to keep up his happy-go-lucky attitude as he spoke.

"Well, there's nothing here," he said, speaking a little too quickly in his nervousness.  "Let's get going, oka—"

"Wait!" Saki suddenly interrupted him, shooting past and making him spin around in surprise.  She knelt down, picking up a busted pair of headphones from the ground.  They looked like they might have been expensive, like something a kid had saved his allowance up for years to afford.  They looked familiar too, though judging from her reaction, Adachi had a feeling he already knew who they belonged to.

"These belong to Hana-chan," Saki confirmed a moment later, standing up.  "He _was_ here!"

"Are you—"

Adachi cut himself off as a strange sound suddenly filled the room, like there was an audience watching them, and they decided to start murmuring at once.  He looked around, trying to find the source of the sound, feeling Saki's back thump against him a moment later.  All things considered, he could not blame her for being nervous at the moment; the voices had him on edge, and he kept looking around, half expecting to see Shadows start appearing any second.

 _"I can't stand working here,"_ a female voice suddenly said above the murmuring.

 _"This place is the only thing interesting around here, but it's still boring,"_ came another.

_"I don't want to work my shift today!"_

_"Why don't you talk to the Prince of Junes?  He'll probably let you take the day off."_

_"Oh, yeah!  He needs to keep his employees happy, after all!"_

_"Oh yes, the Prince needs to be kind to his subjects!"_

Adachi frowned; what in the hell…?  He glanced down at Saki, feeling her shuddering at his back, and he could see her clutching those headphones tightly to her chest.

"Those voices…" she began softly.  "They're our coworkers."  She paused, turning up to him.  "They always took advantage of him, because he's the manager's son.  They always tried to bully him into letting them get away with just about anything."

As if in response to her explanation, the voices continued, the tone of their voices becoming angrier:

_"That stupid Prince!  He thinks he's so much better than us, just because he's the manager's son!"_

_"He's no better than the rest of us.  He's such a stuck up brat."_

Saki smiled softly at that.  "…he didn't always let them get away with it, but it didn't help.  I tried to be nice to him, because no one else would…"

_"…yeah.  Konishi-senpai is always nice to me."_

Saki froze solid at the new, male voice, her head snapping away from Adachi as she turned around, trying to find where it was coming from.  Adachi could not blame her for her surprise; he recognized the voice too, coming from the grave.

"Hana-chan!?" she exclaimed.  Yosuke Hanamura's voice continued, heedless of her calling out for him.

_"This place is crap; completely boring.  Nothing ever goes on here, not like the city… but Konishi-senpai is pretty and smart, and is the only person that doesn't call me by that stupid nickname.  She makes it worth it, but…"_

There was a pause, before the disembodied voice let out a completely unhinged laugh, sounding completely different from the cowering kid Adachi saw.

_"But she's just like the rest of this place!  Just a small town beauty that I can throw away as soon as I'm bored with her!  She won't make this place any more interesting!  Even though…"_

The laughter and the unhinged ranting slowly dropped off, the voice quieting for so long that it almost seemed like it had vanished for good.  Saki was clinging to the headphones, the expression on her face torn between fear and utter loathing for the owner.  Adachi glanced down at her, wondering if he should comment on how it must have been like to find out what her apparent puppy dog really seemed to think about her, but he thought better of it.  That would have been kind of harsh, even for him.

 _"Even though… I… really think I_ do _love her…"_

Saki let out a faint noise, feeling more like she had been stabbed by that simple statement than the harsher words before.  She stared down at the headphones in her hands, slowly releasing them from the death grip she had on them.  Hanamura… thought he loved her…?

"What kind of _loser_ can't even make up his mind like that?!"

All three of them nearly jumped out of their skins (and fur) at the not-so-new voice, coming from somewhere close by in the room.  Two pins of light suddenly appeared by a broken vending machine, blinking in and out for a moment, before they moved… revealing Saki, a twisted sneer on her face made all the more disturbing by her glowing yellow eyes.  The real Saki took a step back into Adachi, and he absently caught her as he stared in shock; what the hell was going on here!?

"T-two of Saki-chan!?" Teddie exclaimed, flailing his arms as he ducked back behind them.

The yellow eyed Saki put a hand on her hip, looking bored.  "He's right; a guy like _him_ would never be able to get with a girl like _me,"_ she continued, looking amused at the very thought.  "I was only _nice_ to him because no one else would be, but he totally got the wrong idea."

"T-that's not…" Saki mumbled, but she could not quite manage to finish her objection.

"That's not true?  Of course it's true!" the other one exclaimed.  "Stupid Prince of Junes!  It's because of him and his stupid family that _my_ family is suffering!  I only got a job at Junes to help keep the store afloat, but we're still in trouble of closing _anyway_ because Junes' prices are so much cheaper.  It's all _their_ fault!"

Adachi, understandably, was confused; he did not know anything about this girl, and frankly he did not care about what her other self was babbling about either.  It was obviously enough to bother her, though, considering the fact that she had her eyes squeezed shut, shaking her head sharply.

"No, stop!"

"The store is suffering, and _now_ my family treats me like I'm a damn traitor!" the other Saki continued, stomping her foot.  "I wanted to run away to the city… but I was too much of a coward!  I couldn't leave them all behind, no matter how much they hated me!"

Saki fell to her knees, and Adachi just looked down at her like she grew another head.  So what if her family hated her; family was family, it was not like you had to deal with your parents once you were old enough to live on your own.  Her problems were so _minor_ compared to his, it was pathetic; she needed to try having everything taken out from under her, _then_ maybe he would be a little more sympathetic.

"This… this isn't…" Saki murmured, trying to get her thoughts together, and failing miserably.  "It's not true…"

"Of course it's true," her duplicate replied, waving a dismissive hand.  "Why would I lie to myself?  I'm _glad_ Hana-chan is dead; maybe now the manager will be so upset that Junes will go out of business and the shopping district can go back to normal.  These are my _real_ feelings.  Isn't that right, me?"

"No, it's not!" Saki shot back.  "I… I don't feel that way!  That's not like me at all!"

"Why keep denying it?" the other replied, that smile becoming more and more twisted as it felt like the shadows in the room were beginning to tremble.  Teddie flailed as Adachi took a step back.  "I am you, and you are me.  Everything you feel, everything you think, is the same as me."

_"No!"_

Saki jumped to her feet, her face twisted in anger, despite the tears streaming down her face.

"You're not me!"

That seemed to have set something off; the other Saki let out a shriek of a laugh, darkness flocking to her like insects to a light source.  Saki took a fumbling step back, confused as to what was going on, only to end up tripping on a piece of debris, landing on her behind as Adachi jumped back, failing to catch her.  Teddie was letting out a terrified cry, shouting about Shadows, not that either of them could focus on him.

"Mm…" the other Saki moaned, sounding like she was in ecstasy.  "You're right.  I'm my own me now, and it feels so _good!"_

The darkness exploded around the other Saki, forcing them all to shuffle away as her form began to change, becoming much larger and longer.  The ceiling disappeared as darkness flooded the room, knocking down the walls like they were just cheap movie stage displays, revealing a strange purple and black swirling background and more of the steel beams and spotlights like in the target area.  The other Saki continued to grow and change, becoming a strange, slug-like creature with long, spindly arms dangling almost uselessly at its sides and eyes extending from its head on ridiculously long stalks.  Saki screamed, as did Teddie, the later running off to hide, though with the disappearance of the walls there _was_ nowhere to hide.

The monstrous Saki stretched itself up, spindly arms flopping about as it let out a pleased sound, its voice sounding strange and distorted.

 _"I am the shadow,"_ it announced.  _"I am the true self!  Junes, the shopping district… I don't care about any of it! Let it all disappear, starting with you!"_

Its long arms whipped around, somehow gaining the ability to control themselves as they reached out for where Saki was prone on the floor.  Police instinct kicked in at that moment, and Adachi threw himself forward, wrapping his arms around her as they hit the ground.  She huddled under him, shaking, but he did not notice.  He followed through with his instincts, reaching up as the Fool Arcana card appeared as it had yesterday.

_"Persona!"_

His hand crushed the card, and Izanagi appeared just as he had before.  Some dim part of Adachi's mind let out a sob, as all this was essentially acknowledging the fact that yesterday had been very, very real and he could not keep denying it anymore.  He was not paying much attention to it though; there was a slug monster flailing around in front of them, and if he did not destroy it, they were going to be hanging from TV antennas next.

"Izanagi!" he shouted, swinging his hand down toward the slug creature.  The Persona launched himself forward, massive nodachi swinging out to strike at the spindly arms.  Adachi took his attention away from the battle for the moment, pushing himself off of Saki to try and help her up, but she was curled up on the ground, refusing to move.

"It's not true…" she sobbed softly.  "It's not…"

He rolled his eyes skyward, before turning to where Teddie was huddled in a corner.

"Teddie!  Look aft—"

He was cut off as the slug creature suddenly reared back, letting loose a blast of wind that hit Izanagi square in the chest.  Pain shot through Adachi, like he had been punched right in the ribs, and he found himself knocked clear off his feet.  Teddie shouted after him, but he ignored the bear, grinding his teeth; freaking hell why did he have to always be surrounded by helpless _idiots!?_

"Worry about her!" he snapped, flinging a hand out as he poured all of his focus into controlling Izanagi.

The Persona hung back, returning the favor to the monster by unleashing a lightning storm.  It clearly did not like that, but then again, what would enjoy being blasted like that?  The creature reared back, thin arms flailing around, beating at Izanagi like he was a fly.  He tried to have the Persona dodge, and he was mostly successful… until he suddenly was not, a miscalculation sending him to the ground as Adachi fell to his knees.

"Sensei!" Teddie called, now covering Saki who was still curled up in a ball on the ground, trying to drown out the sounds of the battle.

"No…" she murmured faintly, "please… make it stop…"

A steel beam above suddenly twisted, sprouting a television like a flower.  The screen snapped on, showing Saki standing together with the Hanamura boy.  He was rubbing the back of his neck… before he bowed to her, holding out a movie pass for her to take.  The Saki on the screen looked surprised for a moment, before she forced a smile on her face, accepting it.  Hanamura looked like it was the best day of his life when she took it, and nearly sprang a hug on her, though he managed to resist, wishing her goodbye instead.  As soon as he was out of sight, however, Saki looked down at the ticket with distaste, barely managing to resist the urge to crush it in her hands before shoving it in her pocket.

 _"He was such an idiot!"_ Saki's Shadow exclaimed, arms whipping around, continuing to beat on Izanagi.  Adachi screamed with each hit, struggling to get back up to his feet.  _"He honestly thought he could go out on a date with_ me?! _He honestly thought I cared?!"_

Adachi struggled back up to his feet as Saki screamed, eyebrow twitching in irritation.  He totally had enough of this…  She pushed herself up from her little ball, tears streaming down her face.

 _"Shut up!"_ she screamed.  "That's now how I feel at all!"

_"You can't deny your tru—"_

That was it.

The Shadow was suddenly cut off, as Izanagi managed to roll out of the way of the beating he was receiving and spring up to deliver a punch to the face of the slug-like creature.  Its eyes spun around their stalks, twisting in a daze, before it hit the ground.  Of course, while this was going on, Adachi was doing the same… to Saki.  She let out a shriek of surprise as she hit the ground a hand going up to her reddening face, before she turned her stunned expression to Adachi.

"W-wh…?"

 _Finally,_ she shut up.  Adachi stood up straight despite the fact that it hurt like hell to do, lowering the fist he had used to punch her out.

"Get yourself together," he said, trying and failing to keep the irritated look off his face.  "So what if he was a loser?  Who the hell cares if you didn't really like him?!  You're here now trying to figure out why he died, aren't you?  Doesn't _that_ matter more?"

Saki stared at him blankly for a moment, as if she could not really comprehend what he just said.  Finally she pushed herself up again, staring at the creature that had come from her.

"…yeah," she murmured softly.  "I… really hate working for Junes, and I hated the fact that Hana-chan just couldn't take the hint that I didn't like him… but that doesn't mean I… I didn't care…"

The slug monster froze at her words, before it let out a loud wail, eye stalks untwisting themselves as it flailed its arms, bursts of wind shooting off all over the place.  Adachi let out an annoyed noise, guarding his face, before motioning to Izanagi.  The Persona shot forward, blazing lightning blasts at the creature repeatedly, blasting off an arm in the process.  Once he was close enough, that massive sword was whipped around, implanting itself into the monster's skull.  The shadow let out a wailing death cry, before darkness suddenly shot out around Izanagi's blade, forcing the Persona to back off before the creature's skin started bubbling up, explosions ripping through it.

Adachi ducked down, protecting Saki from the explosion as he guarded his own eyes.  It was a moment before everything died down, leaving the yellow-eyed Shadow standing where the monster had been.

"Tch, not again…" Adachi muttered under his breath, but Saki was already standing.  She hesitated a moment, before stepping past him, approaching her other self.  She did not stop until she was standing directly in front of her, and even then she hesitated a moment, looking uncertain.

"…You're right," Saki said softly.  "I hate my life.  My family hates me, my neighbors hate me… and Hana-chan _liked_ me.  I hated that most of all, that he was responsible for all my suffering, and he had no clue how much I disliked him… but I couldn't bring myself to be outright mean to him. I knew it wasn't his fault; that he was just being honest with himself…"

She let out a shuddering breath, fighting against tears.  "I never wanted him to die… no one deserves to die like that!  I want to do everything to find out what happened, even if I didn't feel the same way he did.  Is that so wrong… me?"

The Shadow Saki smiled, shaking her head as she closed her yellow eyes.  A blue light started to radiate from the Shadow, before she disappeared in a flurry of sparkles.  The sparkles converged above her head, a faint image appearing of a very feminine ninja-like character wearing a helmet that resembled the head of the monster it had been.  The image faded away soon after, becoming an Arcana card with what appeared to be the form of a woman on it.  Saki held out her hands for it, and as soon as the card touched the tips of her fingers, it faded away, becoming a part of her.

"This… is my Persona…?" she asked, wavering unsteadily on her feet.  Adachi let out an alarmed noise as she fell to her knees, hurrying over to her.

"H-hey, are you al—"

That was as far as he got, before Saki hauled off and punched him in a place that no one had any right touching.  His breath left him as he doubled over, curling up on the ground, mouth working in protest against the violence but no sound coming out.

"…that's for punching me."


	6. Interlude

Working in Inaba was proving to be a hell of a lot harder than I initially thought.

Saki was exhausted when we left the TV, barely able to keep to her feet, but we couldn't just waltz out of the police station like that. She managed to keep herself together, even playing along with a shouting match that threw off Dojima's suspicions, and kept everyone from looking at the bruise that was steadily starting to form on her face. Not that I _regretted_ punching her – I still kinda don't – but I did not need the other officers giving me curious looks as I escorted her out.

I managed to hold Dojima's questions off, promising to file a report while offering to get coffee for everyone, using it as an excuse to slip out and make sure Saki got to the hospital okay. At the time, I rather she went by herself, but… well, even back then, I couldn't do shit like that on good conscious. Morality bites sometimes.

It was a relief when I could finally collapse into my apartment, wrapping myself around my sad excuse for a pillow and burying my head in it. Tonight was a good night to get drunk… unfortunately, with my first Inaba paycheck being a week away yet, necessities like beer were something I couldn't afford. So all I was left to do was roll around in exasperation, knowing that sleep was not going to be a thing despite how tired I was. The clock clicked the time by, it and an ancient TV set the only companions I had in this crappy place.

The TV… I had not even plugged the thing in; with all this screen diving, I really did not feel like looking at the brain sucking device. As the time clicked over to the next day, however, it was obvious the TV had other ideas.

There was a snap, loud enough to make me jump out of my skin, and I rolled over in bed to see that the TV had _turned itself on,_ despite the fact that it was unplugged. I had to stare, bewildered, watching as yellowish static appeared on the screen. As I stared, it slowly faded back, revealing a woman's form, wearing what looked like a kimono. I reached up, rubbing at my eyes; I thought for sure at the time that just wanting to be drunk was making me drunk.

The image lasted all of a minute, before the TV snapped off again, leaving me stunned. I did not know how long I stayed like that, just that when I finally snapped out of my shock, I fell backward on the bed, throwing an arm over my face.

"…why can't anything be easy here…?"


	7. Chapter Five – A Princess's Thorns

_"Adachi!"_

Adachi cringed as he came into work that day, wondering if being yelled at as soon as he walked in the door was going to be a common occurrence.  He let out a breath, reaching to scratch at the back of his neck, before hesitantly approaching where Dojima was resembling a steaming pot of coffee.  He opened his mouth to ask what was wrong, when the elder detective slapped a folder of papers on his desk so loud that it sounded like a gun shot.

"Why am I getting inquiries from HQ about excessive ammo requests… _from you!?"_

"E-excessive… ammo…?" Adachi responded, feeling sweat collecting on his brow.  Oh crap; he had needed to replace the ammo he used when he first arrived in the TV, having wasted most of what his gun could hold.  Not only that, but he might have needed it in the future; like the last time he was in the TV, he could feel his Persona giving him a strength that he did not have previously. If that could transfer into a weapon, then he would not have to rely on summoning so much.  Still, at the moment, he did not think requesting five boxes of ammo for his gun would have been an abnormal issue.

Obviously, it _was._

"Ah… w-well, there's not much to do around here when I have time off, you know…" he managed to get out.  "I took up target shooting in my spare time, so…"

Dojima was giving him the most deadpan expression ever, and Adachi was not entirely sure which was more frightening at the moment.

"…you signed out your department gun and ammo for it," he finished, his tone as flat as his expression.  An exasperated noise came out of him as he ran a hand over his face.  "You realize this is coming out of your paycheck, right?"

Adachi felt his heart hit his feet, and he slumped over as a result.  "…had a feeling that would happen, yeah…"

Dojima just shook his head, snatching up the folder as he went back to his desk.  "Find something else to occupy your time," he said, before pausing, turning on him again.  "…and stop hanging around that Konishi girl.  People are starting to ask questions."

Adachi groaned privately; he had no problems with wanting to avoid her, but she did not seem to want to avoid _him._

"Y-yes sir…" he muttered, plopping down on his oversized chair.

~.oOOo.~

Saki let out a tired noise as she fell against a chair in the Junes food court, finding working an afternoon shift difficult after having to be off for a few days.  Granted, the doctors at the hospital had not found anything wrong with her other than exhaustion, but they still ordered her to take some time off from work, leaving her home with her parents in the afternoon… not exactly the best way to relax.  At least her little brother was nice enough to still treat her like a member of their family; he had made sure to look after her when he could, and brought her dinner when she did not want to go out and deal with a family meal.

She closed her eyes; even in the real world, she could feel her Persona stirring in the far recesses of her mind.  When her parents yelled at her, when they looked on her in distaste, she could feel her there, quietly whispering encouragement.  The creature was giving her a new kind of strength, one she did not know she was capable of before now; it helped her feel confident that she would be able to see through this mystery… even if she had to do it alone.  Saki grimaced at that thought; Adachi was a cop, he was supposed to be more reliable than what he had shown so far – and he actually had the nerve to _punch_ her!  What kind of cop did that?!

A sigh escaped from her, and she forced herself to calm down; there was no use dwelling on it at the moment.  With what little they knew, and the only access point to the target area where Teddie agreed he would stay and watch for them being in the police station, she needed to rely on the detective for now.  Maybe having to go through all this would help him grow up a little bit…

A flash of pink passed by her vision, and Saki's thoughts were interrupted for the moment as she turned to see what it was.  She recognized the kimono first and the person second, blinking in surprise.

"Amagi-san?"

Yukiko Amagi turned.  "Konishi-senpai?" she asked, her soft voice sounding surprised.

"Yeah," she replied, standing up and going over to the railing.  Amagi was standing on the other side, on the path that would take her to the sidewalk out of Junes.  "How are… how are you holding up?"

Yukiko looked shocked at the question, before she turned away, her expression becoming clouded.

"Shouldn't I be asking you that?" she replied, deflecting the question.  "I thought you and Hanamura-kun…"

"We were friends," Saki returned quickly, absently wondering if Hanamura had been bragging around school that they were going out.  She dismissed it immediately after the thought came to her head; he did not even know what he really wanted out of her, so he did not seem the type to brag about something that was not even there on his end.  "But you were friends with Satonaka-san too, so…"

Yukiko did not respond, her grip on the grocery bag she was holding tightening.  "…forgive me, I have to get going."

She hurried off at that, wooden sandals clicking loudly on the pavement.  Saki reached for her, calling out her name, before letting out a faint sigh; she should have stuck to her previous thought of leaving her alone, and not accidentally make her feel worse.  After a moment, she shook her head, turning to return to work as a gray haired young man passed her on the foot path.

~.oOOo.~

As much as Adachi wanted to avoid Saki for the rest of his existence, that just was not going to happen any time soon.  Of course, just having to pay for the ammo he had used up out of his paycheck was not enough for Dojima; he had to punish him with patrol duty as well.  Unfortunately, he decided that starting his patrol at Junes was the best option, which meant running into the young woman was inevitable.

That was exactly what he did too as he approached the food court, and Adachi had to fight against an exasperated noise as Saki very nearly collided with him.  She started at him for a moment, surprised.

"What are you doing here?" she asked.

"Patrolling," he grumbled, moving to go past her.  She stepped in his way, however, and he tried to move in the other direction, only to have her cut him off again.  He let out an exasperated sigh, rolling his eyes.  "…what do you want?"

"We should talk," she answered.

Yeah, he had a feeling that was coming; Adachi let out an exasperated noise.  "Look, kid, people are going to start ta—"

He did not even get a chance to finish; Saki already had him by the elbow, steering him toward one of the tables.  At the very least, he did not get forced into a seat, though he did manage to look as disgruntled as possible as he sat down.  Saki took the seat across from him, pulling off her apron as she sat down.

"When will we be able to go in again?"

Adachi stared for a moment, before he held up his hands.  "Whoa, what's this 'we' thing again?" he asked.  "In case you forgot, you almost died the last time we were in there.  There's no 'we' in any future trips."

Saki shot a glare back at him.  "There is no way you're leaving me out of this!" she protested.  "Besides, I have my Persona now, and I'm well enough to use it.  I'm not just going to sit here and let you go bumbling around all by yourself."

_"Bumbling?!"_

"Besides," Saki continued, not letting him interrupt her again, "do you honestly think you can just go up to anyone else in the police department and tell them what's going on?"

Adachi paused at that, thinking about Dojima and how he reacted to his ammunition request.  He instantly wilted, flopping back against the back of his seat.

"Fine… fair point," he grumbled.  "I guess we are the only ones that can solve this case.  But you need to listen to me, you know; you can't just waltz into the police station whenever you feel like it.  There's only a few arguments we can have in the middle of the place before people get suspicious.  And I can't go around pulling you out of trouble every time you get into it."

Saki gave him a bland look in return.  "Likewise."

She was about to say more, when a chime came from a display TV nearby, distracting Adachi temporarily.  He turned curiously… only to stop and stare at the broadcast that was being displayed.  It showed a young woman with long dark hair in a rather distinct pink kimono.  The way she was carrying herself, trying to remain distinguished and respectable despite the rude questions coming from the reporter; he had seen something very similar before…

"Hey," he began, not even noticing that Saki was still talking.  She stumbled to a stop, giving him a perplexed look as he pointed toward the TV.  "Wasn't that girl on television last night?"

Saki followed his gaze, confused for a moment.  "Amagi-san?  I think that's a rebroadcast of what was on the news last night."

News?  What he had seen was hardly a news broadcast.

"No, no, no; I mean a later broadcast, around midnight?"

Saki's head snapped back to him, giving him a weird look that he fully expected to be followed by mocking.  When she just continued to stare at him like he possessed a second head on his shoulders, Adachi could not help but deflate a little.  Great, now what the hell did he say to offend the country bumpkin populace?

"You're… not talking about the Midnight Channel, are you?" she finally asked, her voice incredulous.

Adachi raised an eyebrow at that.  "The what?"

She blew out a breath, rolling her eyes.  "It's some urban legend going around town; if you look in a television that's been turned off at midnight on a rainy night, you can see your soul mate…"

She trailed off, glancing back at the television screen, and what she was thinking was obvious: there was no way in hell that girl would ever be a soul mate to _Adachi._ He let out a disgruntled noise, shaking his head; was it so hard to believe he could score a hot chick?  Besides, she may have been his type, but she was clearly way too young.

"Whatever it is, I'm pretty sure I saw it last night," he said, drawing her attention back to him again.

"If you say so…" Saki replied, looking and sounding uncertain about that.  "It's going to rain tonight; why don't you check again?"

There was a hidden meaning in her suggestion: why don't you make sure you're not crazy.  Adachi let out a sigh at that, rubbing his forehead.  First he fell into a TV, then he met a weird bear, and then fought shadows and found he had a Persona, and everything _else…_ when he thought of things like that, people appearing on a weird station at midnight did not seem so obscure.

"All right, fine," he replied, before giving her a look.  "But you watch it too."

Saki paused, looking like she was going to object, but after a moment she just smiled.  Of course she would be all for it; this way she could mock the hell out of him when he was wrong.  Before he could say anything more, however, she reached over, diving into his jacket.  Adachi let out a yelp and flailed, trying to get away, but she already claimed her prize: his cellphone.

She flipped it open along with her own, fiddling around with it despite his many loud protests and attempts to get it back, before finally handing it over to him.

"Here, there's my cell number," she announced.  "I'll give you a call after it's over."

Adachi stared blankly at his phone, where Saki's contact information had been added.  There was so much he wanted to say, like how Dojima would string him up by his shoelaces if he found he had the cell phone number of the girl he had been warned to stop being in contact with on his cell.  Or how wrong it was for him, a twenty-seven year old, to have the cell number of a teenager in the first place.  Instead, he just let out a defeated sigh, deflating in his seat.

~.oOOo.~

Adachi let out an exhausted groan as he collapsed onto his bed that evening, barely having the consciousness to kick off his shoes as he laid there, face down in the sheets.  Talking to Saki about the Midnight Channel and the TV world had taken up most of his time, and he had been late reporting back to the station afterward.  Dojima reamed him a new one _again,_ before proceeding to dump him with enough desk work to drown anyone, even a seasoned detective, for a month.  He half assed what he could, and skirted the rest once Dojima left for the evening, but that still had him just barely crawling home before midnight.

He allowed a moment to pass, before rolling over on his bed, staring up at the clock.  Just minutes away… he still had yet to plug his television into the wall socket, and he could hear the steady hiss of rain continuing outside.  The conditions were right, and there would be no way he would miss the channel coming on.

The minute hand clicked over to midnight, and just as it had the night before, the television snapped on, filled with a yellowish haze of static.  Something was different this time, and as the static faded back, Adachi got a crystal clear image of a cheesy European castle, standing tall against the red and black lined sky of the TV world.  Before he even had a chance to wonder why the hell he was able to see into the TV world all of a sudden, a weird noise spilled out of the speakers, like someone was making kissing noises… and then the black haired girl he had seen on the television drifted into view.  Only this time, she did not look anything like the demure, kimono-wearing young lady.  This time she was decked out in the gaudiest pink princess gown imaginable, complete with an elaborate, fancy crown.

_What?!_

"Good evening!" she exclaimed, holding a microphone in one hand like she was the host of some variety show.  "Today I, Amagi Yukiko, am going hunting to grab me a _stud muffin."_

_…what?!_

Why… what the hell was going on?  Why was there a gunshot noise to go with "stud muffin"?  The Yukiko on the screen started gesturing weirdly, and if Adachi was not so shocked, he probably would have planted a hand over his face in an effort to stop watching.

"This is the non-scripted, 'Princess Yukiko's Hunt for her Prince Charming'!"

A gaudy pink and gold sign appeared behind her, complete with over the top sound effects, sparkles, and hearts.

"I'm all fired up!  My precious gems are ready to go—!"

Adachi did not even know this girl, and he was feeling embarrassed for her.  He finally managed to plant his hands over his face, trying not to look… but he peeked out from between his fingers anyway, just in time to see her pat her crotch.  _Oh god…_

"Just like my heart!" the princess on the screen continued, slipping her microphone down her cleavage just so she could use her hands to make a heart gesture, complete with on screen hearts and sound effects. "I'm going to capture so many princes, I could start my own host club!" she finished, finally pulling the microphone from between her boobs and winking at the screen.  "Here I go!"

The girl on the screen turned toward the castle, gaudy gown rustling as she ran into the building.  The camera pulled out, giving a good view of the corny castle and the black and red sky beyond, before the TV finally snapped off.

Adachi remained sitting on his bed, staring out at the television from between his fingers for precious long minutes.  He almost did not hear his phone go off, he was still so tied up in his shock, and it took him a moment to answer.

"Adachi."

There was silence on the other end, before… "Did… what did… what was that?"

Saki sounded genuinely caught off guard, and he had to wonder if she was staring at her television in the same state of shock as he was.  If he was not so put off as it was, he probably would have gloated over how he _totally was not crazy_ like she seemed to think he was before.  Instead he let out a breath, rubbing a hand over his eyes.

"I have no idea," he replied.  "She's not normally like that, is she?"

"I… no?" she answered, though she did not sound so sure.  "I don't know her that well, but I talked to her earlier today.  She did not seem anywhere near spirited enough to pull off something like this."

Adachi let out a breath; he hated to admit it, but there was only one thing they could do right now.  He really did not want to… but he knew Saki would, and there was no way he could just let her go in by herself.

"We'll need to talk to Teddie tomorrow," he said, flopping back on his bed, before continuing, not sure if she caught on.  "That castle is in the TV world."

"Yeah, I saw the sky," Saki replied softly.

"Right," Adachi said reluctantly, about to hang up, before something pinged in his mind.  "Uh, hey, Saki?  I'm gonna need a weapon other than my gun…"

~.oOOo.~

Inaba had been an unending stream of surprises since the day he arrived.  The television and everything associated with it had been more than enough, but Saki waltzing toward the interrogation room with their television in it, holding a large sword tucked securely away in a scabbard, was enough to leave him staring in mute shock.  There was an awkward moment where he just stood there as she locked the interrogation room door behind her, his mouth working as he tried to find something to say.

 _"How?"_ he finally asked.

Saki turned toward him, mildly surprised.  "The back entrance.  The camera doesn't work."

Adachi stared for a moment longer, before he let out a tired sigh; he really should not have expected anything less from a country bumpkin town.  Saki at least looked amused, and she held the sword out for him to take.

"You owe me for this," she said.  "Daidara's weapons – excuse me, his _art –_ isn't cheap."

He really did not want to know how much she paid for that piece of… art.  As he took it, he nearly dropped it from the weight, and he let out a faint sound as he pulled the sword out just enough to see that it was indeed sharp.  How… exactly was it okay for a teenager to buy these things?  And wait a second—!

"Why are you giving me this?!" he exclaimed.

She stared at him.  "You're the one that said you needed a different weapon.  What did you want, a fold up chair?"

"But… a _sword?"_ he responded, at a loss.  Just what was he supposed to do with this?  He had never even held a sword before this.  Well, not in real life, at least…  His mind circled back to that dream from his first night in Inaba, and he made a face, feeling a hollow pit open up in his stomach.

Saki let out an exasperated noise, staring at him in disbelief when he did not say anything more.  She had spent so much on that, and this was the response he had?  After a moment, she just shook her head, brushing past him toward the television.  He spun around, reaching a hand out to grab her, but she pressed a hand to the television, and it sunk through without him touching her.

"Hunh…?"

She glanced back at him, her expression difficult to read.  "I realized it a couple nights ago.  I think it's because I have a Persona now."

She nodded for him to follow her, before diving into the television on her own.  Adachi stared, not sure how to respond, before glancing down at the sword in his hands.  Hesitantly, he pulled it all the way out of the sheath, looking it over curiously; it was a pretty awesome sword… he would have to look into who this Daidara person was.  Oh, and maybe find a way to thank Saki, depending on whether or not he ended up stabbing himself.

One rush of television screens and one inability to keep his feet and landing on his ass later, Adachi was standing next to Saki on the target-painted stage.  Teddie was before the two of them, sniffing at the air, letting out a soft growl of determination.

"Mrrr… I noticed something beary suspicious yesterday!" he exclaimed, and Adachi planted a hand over his face, fighting against a groan.  Another determined growl escaped from the bear again, before he suddenly spun around, pointing down one of the paths.  "That way!"

"Are you sure?" Saki asked, but Teddie was already taking off, and the two of them hurried to keep up with him.

It was not long before the scenery changed, the path melding into something out of a fairy tale, complete with little village cottages and a massive, mystical looking forest, faint lights twinkling between the tree trunks.  There were likely Shadows dwelling between those trees, but neither of them paused long enough to make sure.  Soon, the trees thinned out, replaced by stone walls, leading the way to the gaudy castle from the television last night.

The three of them stopped at the foot of a stone bridge that expanded over a moat surrounding the castle, and Adachi gazed up at the massive structure.  Yeah… that was definitely a really ridiculously gaudy castle; now that they could see it without the scanlines from the television, it was even easier to make out the pink and red banners with gold trim, completely glitzing out the entire structure.  He let out a breath, reaching to rub at the back of his neck.

"Well… no turning back now," he began, moving forward.

Just as he set foot on the bridge, the ground began to tremble and shift, blocks of stone from the bridge coming undone and rising up from their places.  Adachi let out a yelp and leapt off of the bridge, just as the ground on the other side broke apart, wooden walls shooting up and coming together, a twisted building blocking off the entrance until it was almost impossible to see the front of the castle.  By the time the ground stopped trembling, a building that resembled a dojo stood in their way of the castle entrance, wooden walls set together in a way that seemed structurally impossible, but somehow held the building together.  The wooden entrance slid open to admit them, a spiraling red and black portal sitting in the doorway and obscuring whatever lay beyond.  With the bridge half fallen apart and the dojo set up right along the river, there was no way for them to bypass the structure to get to the castle.

Adachi stared at the building, before turning back to Saki, at a loss.  It was clear they needed to go through there, but why the hell had it suddenly appeared?

_"Yukiko… you think I'll always protect you, don't you?  I'm always here for you, aren't I…?"_

The two of them jumped, turning their attention back to the dojo as Teddie let out a fearful noise, scooting back to hide behind Adachi.

"That… sounded like Satonaka's voice," Saki said softly.  "Her and Amagi-san were really good friends."

So that explained that; the dojo had come up between them and the castle because… they were a threat?  That meant that even if people died here, the places they arrived at would continue to appear and act in response to the people that appeared in them?  It would not have been that creepy, if the voices of the dead did not continue to come from them.

"Looks like we don't have a choice," Adachi finally said, grasping the hilt of his new sword in one hand and the sheath in the other.  Time to see how quickly he could get used to fighting with this thing; he shuffled forward, setting a careful foot on the bridge, before heading into the dojo with Saki and Teddie close behind.


	8. Chapter Six – Trial of the Dragon

Adachi was discovering quickly that no matter how cool it may have looked on a television screen, fighting with a sword was exhausting.  Though the pathways leading to the dojo and the castle beyond had been relatively clear, despite the obviously lurking Shadows in the background, the inside of the dojo was another story.  There were plenty of Shadows to go around, and it was not just the balls with teeth this time.  They came in all different varieties, from specters with rods shot through body parts to haunting birds straight out of Japanese myth.  It was a bit daunting, not to mention terrifying, and more than once they had to go hunting for Teddie because he went running in terror, yelling advice to them from his hiding spot and drawing more Shadows to them.

Either way, all the fighting and swinging around a heavy weapon he was not used to had the detective exhausted, and he near fell over when they got to a room blissfully devoid of Shadows.  Saki glanced down at him, raising an eyebrow, but even she had to admit all this was hard work (even her arms were getting tired from swinging her knives around), and sat down on the floor near him.

"I think next time we should come better prepared," she commented, reaching up to wipe sweat from her forehead.  "Maybe bring water bottles and food."

Adachi shot her annoyed look.  "This isn't a picnic."

"I didn't say it was!" Saki shot back, and Teddie hovered behind her, looking like he was going to ask what a picnic was supposed to be.  "But we need to stay hydrated, and to keep our strength up.  It's a good idea if we're going to be stuck in here for awhile."

He did not want to admit that she had a point, but she really did.  Heck, they did not even know how much time passed while they were in here.  Sometimes it would feel like they were only there for minutes, and hours had passed by in the real world.  Other times, like today, it would feel like hours had gone by, when only one had passed in reality.  He grumbled under his breath, deciding to switch topics as he glanced around at the wooden walls that surrounded them.

"So why a dojo?" Adachi asked.  "I mean, I get the castle for the pretty pink princess, but why this for the Satonaka kid?"

Another irritable look was shot toward the back of his head, before Saki glanced around herself.

"I'm not sure… I'm a year older than them, so I don't really know them that well," she admitted.  "Just that Satonaka was very protective of Yukiko as her friend.  I guess that might be why."

That seemed a bit much, but then again, Adachi did not really get this whole television world anyway.  It was obvious it drew out a person's inner feelings, judging by what happened with Saki, but what more than that?  And why were all the Shadows so violent, some lying in wait for them to pass before striking out?  They did not know enough yet, and Adachi hated to keep blindly pressing on when they were so clueless.

They rested for a moment longer, before continuing.  The swarms of Shadows got steadily worse the more they pressed on, and they had to stop a few times to recover.  It was probably fortunate that somewhere through the mess that Saki had figured out how to use her Persona to heal, otherwise they might have had more than a few bruises and scrapes… and worse.  Adachi grumbled as he hunched down after a particularly grueling fight, watching as a cut closed itself up thanks to her Persona's power.

"I-I think we're out of our league here…" she murmured, starting to look as drained as he felt.

 _"Now_ you're having second thoughts?" he shot back, giving her a critical look.

"Of course not!" she snapped, before taking a breath.  She was getting easier to set off: a testament to how tired she was.  "I just… we're not fighters, you know?  We should probably rely on our Personas more than our weapons."

He understood what she was getting at; they were not exactly used to fighting nonstop like this, and while he had police training, it was not meant for this extreme level of endurance and on top of it he was older than her.  Twenty-seven was not that old, but he still felt like his bones were aching, and trying to lift his sword was getting harder and harder – not that it had been easy to begin with.

Adachi was about to – reluctantly – admit that she was right, that they needed to preserve their strength, but his mouth snapped shut before anything could get out.  Over her shoulder, in the darkness of the next doorway, _something_ with blazing red eyes was staring out at them, waiting for them to make a move.  The detective let out an uncharacteristic squeak, raising a shaking finger to point behind Saki; whatever it was, judging from the size of the eyes, it had to be _big._

Saki whirled just as the _thing_ slithered out of the darkness.  It had to be a shadow; one thing that Adachi noticed was that almost all of them seemed to have a roman numeral of some kind somewhere on their person.  This serpentine creature had a "VII" emblazoned on its forehead, whiskers framing it as well as its mouth and trailing along behind the creature.  Small arms stretched out from its long body as it curled around the room, glaring down at them with eyes that could only be described as _hungry._

"I-is that seriously a dragon?" Adachi squeaked.

"Y-yeah… that's seriously a dragon."

Adachi did not need to look to know that Teddie had already bailed, not that he could blame him.  The dragon struck down, yellow and black scales glinting in the dim light as its snout crashed into the ground where he and Saki were standing.  They threw themselves out of the way; she landed not so gracefully on her rear as the detective scrambled to his feet, reaching his hand out.

_"Izanagi!"_

His persona appeared as usual, sword flashing as it struck out against the creature.  Unfortunately, the blade just bounced off the creature's scales, merely annoying it as it slithered around the room, the dragon's tail following behind and flicking Izanagi against a wall almost casually.  Adachi clutched at his chest, feeling the wind get knocked out of him, as Saki got back up to her feet, twirling her knives in hand.

_"Tsunade!"_

The snail-helmeted Persona appeared, and with a gesture from her over exaggerated hands, funnels of wind kicked up around the dragon.  One funnel hit it square in the face, knocking it off of its winding course through the room and to the ground, exposing its underside.

"Adachi, now's our chance!" Saki shouted as the detective got his breath back, shaking his head.  When he finally realized what she was getting at, she was already charging for the dragon as it lay vulnerable on the ground.  He scrambled up to his feet, but thankfully Izanagi was already moving before him, getting to the dragon first.  His Persona's sword sunk into the soft flesh of the underbelly, just as Saki's knives did the same.  Adachi finally caught up at the end of the attack train, smashing his sword into the dragon's snout.

It let out a pained cry as it shook all of them off, and Saki let out a yelp as she ended up landing on her rear end again.  Adachi gave her a hand up as the dragon started pacing the room once more, going much slower this time.  He narrowed his eyes at them as Izanagi and Tsunade hovered close by, waiting for orders from their respective owners.

"We definitely slowed it down," he pointed out.  "D'ya think you can knock it over again?"

He glanced down at Saki in concern; she looked exhausted.  Obviously all the fighting they had been doing was wearing thin on her, and she looked like she was going to pass out any second.  Still, she managed to pull herself together, forcing herself to stand a little straighter as she nodded, determined.  He had to give her points for her stubbornness, if nothing else; maybe if he had the money after this was over, he would treat her to a topsicle, or something cheap like that.

Saki pushed herself forward, calling Tsunade to follow with her.  Adachi leaned back, gripping his sword and waiting for the moment her Persona's wind would knock the dragon over again.  At her command, the Persona shot off a blast, catching the shadow in the midsection this time.  Izanagi and Adachi sprang into action as the dragon hit the ground; his Persona letting loose its lightning as the detective went for the dragon's face again, ramming his sword as hard as he could into the soft skin where the creature's head met its body.

The Shadow let out a loud screech of pain, before it flopped over uselessly, wisps of darkness escaping from its form as it slowly began to fade away.  The darkness flooded up to the ceiling, seeping away through the cracks above as the voice of the dead echoed in the room once more:

_"Yukiko… you think I'll always protect you, don't you?  I'm always here for you, aren't I…?"_

A chuckle echoed through the room at the repeated words.

 _"What a joke! She was the one that everyone drooled over… so fair-skinned, so feminine, but she relied on me to protect her this whole time.  She was always so jealous, and man did I get a charge out of that!  She knows it; she can't do_ anything _unless I'm around.  I'm better than her, so much better!"_

Silence fell over the room, before there was a soft scoff.

_"…really, I'm the one that can't do anything on my own.  I can't win as a person, let alone as a girl… I'm pathetic.  But Yukiko looks up to me… she depends on me.  That's why I won't let her go._

_"We'll be friends.  Forever."_

Adachi felt a shudder run down his spine as the ceiling broke apart, and the walls fell away.  The dojo disappeared around them as quickly as it had appeared, leaving them on the other side of the bridge leading to the princess's castle.

The quiet of the TV World felt heavy around them as Adachi and Saki just stood there, trying to process what they heard.  It was broken by the sound of Teddie softly padding toward them from his hiding spot, looking between them nervously.  Saki shook herself off first, putting a hand to her head.

"…was that how Satonaka felt…?" she asked softly.  "How could she call her a friend if she was just using her to make herself feel better…?"

Adachi let out a breath, reaching back to rub at his neck.  "Sometimes you need someone to have under your heel in order to make yourself feel like a person," he pointed out, before glancing down at her.  "You know… like keeping a guy strung along and not letting him know what an idiot he's being."

Saki turned a vivid shade of red at that, but she was too tired at that point to yell at him.  She let out an exhausted noise as she allowed Tsunade to fade away.  Adachi was not in much better shape, and he curiously reached a foot out to toe at the bridge.  When the dojo did not appear again, he turned his attention over to Teddie.

"Hey, is there anywhere in here to rest?" he asked.  "We're exhausted."

Teddie paused, putting a hand to his mouth in thought.  "Well… you should be able to go back home, and the girl in here should be okay.  The other two were attacked by Shadows when the fog here cleared, and that doesn't happen too often.  She should be okay for a day or two."

Adachi gave a nod at that; good.  He did not want to be so close, only to be unable to save her.  His attention went back to Saki, and he reached out a hand to help keep her steady.

"Hey… let's go back."

~.oOOo.~

Adachi managed to keep himself together long enough to make sure Saki was all right to go home and hide his sword away in a dusty storage locker, before he finally was able to go back to his desk.  When he sat down in his oversized chair, he slumped over, his head impacting rather loudly against the solid metal desk.  It was louder than he intended, and of course dragged unwanted attention from his partner, whom he did not even notice was sitting at his desk, going over a folder full of paperwork.

"What's with you?" Dojima asked.  Adachi let out a tired sigh, and he was about to answer when his stomach answered for him, letting out a growl loud enough for the detectives the next desk over to pause and stare at him.  If he had managed to lift his head, he would even have been treated to the most awkward expression ever on his partner's face.

"…what was the last thing you had to eat?" he demanded.

Adachi let out a sheepish laugh, finally turning his head up to look at his partner.  "Er… the donut this morning?"

"Why the hell haven't you eaten lunch yet?" Dojima demanded.  He had to pause before he answered, glancing over at the clock.  Oh… it was literally minutes away from the end of his shift.  He had been in the television for the majority of the work day; that was _insane._

"Ah, well… I was busy with patrol," he managed to get out, rubbing at the back of his neck.  "You know… I kept getting stopped by people that needed help with little stuff.  Need to help the community!"

Dojima gave him a disbelieving look, not really buying it, but he let it go, standing up.  He grabbed his jacket from the back of his chair, before nodding to Adachi.

"C'mon.  You're coming with me," he said.  Adachi sat up a little at that, trying to protest, but Dojima cut him off.  "I'm treating you to a meal at my house.  Don't complain."

He stared up at his partner, before he finally clicked his mouth shut.  A home cooked meal at Dojima's place?  His partner probably had a cute little wife that did all the cooking and cleaning at home, maybe a kid or two… he really did not know exactly.  Most of the time they talked involved his partner yelling at him for something or other, but still the thought of a home cooked meal was enough for him to snap up from his seat and follow Dojima out of the station house.

When they got to the house, his mental image proved to be completely wrong.  There was no little wife, but there was a little girl that let out a happy squeal when she heard the door open, only to back away when she caught sight of Adachi.  She was a tiny thing, probably not even ten years old, wearing a pink dress and her hair done up in pig tails.  It was obvious she was very shy, as she almost ran back behind the other young man in the room.

He vaguely remembered the kid, if only because Dojima had yelled at someone else for once during the work day.  Still, he was so neutral in every way, from his clothing to even his hair color, that if he did not have that one thing to remember him by, he probably would not have recognized Dojima's nephew at all.  The kid glanced up at him curiously, obviously recognizing him from that day too, but he did not say anything.

"Um… hello," the little girl said softly.

Adachi managed a faint smile.  "Hey there."

Dojima shook off his shoes, getting out of the way for Adachi to do the same.  "We got off work the same time, so I brought him home for dinner," he explained.

He shuffled up beside his partner, trying to look like a nice and harmless guy for the little girl.  She was still looking at him like he was going to hurt her any second, and he had no idea what to do in this kind of situation.

"I'm Adachi, your dad's new partner."

She looked up at him, like she was not going to say much else.  Instead, she managed to say something that might have been, "I'm Nanako…" before she shuffled back to her pillow, sitting down and half hiding behind her cousin.  Adachi let out a faint sound of exasperation as said cousin continued to _stare_ at him with those grey eyes, before murmuring that his name was, "Souzen Seito," before turning his attention back to Nanako.

Dojima did not seemed bothered by the awkward mumbling and resulting silence.  "I've got leftovers in the fridge.  Nanako, do you want to help me?"

Nanako let out a happy noise, immediately jumping up from her pillow and rushing to the kitchen like Adachi was not there at all.  He stared after her, bewildered, but he did not get a chance to say anything about it.  Dojima waved him over to take Nanako's seat, before following his daughter into the kitchen.  He hesitated a moment, before flopping down on the cushion across from Seito.  The grey haired teen seemed fairly content with ignoring him, watching the television as a commercial for Junes came on.  He did not even acknowledge his presence until the familiar jingle started to play.

"…you're working on that murder case, right?" he asked softly, and Adachi had to note that even his tone was completely neutral.  He did not even want to imagine what this kid would be like playing cards; there was just no emotion to be found anywhere on him.

"That's right," he finally said after a moment.

"Are you close to finding who did it?"

Adachi hesitated at that, glancing to where both Dojimas backs were to him.  "Er… not really, no."

Seito nodded faintly, before turning his attention back to the TV.  He was silent for a long moment, before he finally continued.

"Good luck," he said softly.  "They were both in my class.  Everyone's worried."


	9. Chapter Seven – Somewhere Far From Here

Saki was on her way home from school, intent on dropping off her bag and trading it up for her knives, when she saw the crowd gathered around her family's liquor store.  She paused just down the street, recognizing two of her neighbors in the crowd, the nosey old house wives that liked to gossip about how poor of a daughter she was behind her back.  Naturally, she was in no mood to deal with either of them, and was about to try and slip away for awhile until they left, until she caught a familiar voice ringing out above the crowd.

"…and that's why they need to get out!  Hanamura ending up dead was an obvious jab at Junes!  If it wasn't for that store, we'd still be living peaceful lives here!"

Saki wanted so much to let out a groan, but she was not in the mood to draw attention to herself. That was definitely Naoki, her little brother, and that was definitely a camera crew mixed in with their neighbors.  She rolled her eyes skyward, before slipping around the back, down the back alley where they took out the garbage away from the view of customers and into the back of the store.  Her father and mother were nowhere to be seen, and she was betting that was part of why Naoki had been able to go off on this tirade to begin with.

She walked up to the glass entrance doors, taking a deep breath to help calm her nerves, before she snapped the door open, grabbed Naoki, and dragged him into the store, slamming the door closed as soon as his foot cleared the threshold.  The shouts of the crowd came in from the outside, and she locked the door with a quick snap as Naoki stumbled around, caught completely off guard.

"S-sis!" he finally snapped.  "What was that for?!"

Saki turned to him, arms crossed over her chest as she frowned down at him.  "What do you mean, 'what was that for'?  What were you thinking, spouting all that out there?"

Naoki shrank back a little at being busted, but he pulled himself back almost right away.  "I'm just saying what everyone is thinking…"

He did not even sound entirely convinced on that, and Saki let out a sigh, pinching the bridge of her nose.

"Did you forget that Satonaka died first?" she asked quietly.  "Did you forget that Amagi-san has been missing for the past few days?"  She let her arm drop, giving him an earnest look.  "It's not Junes, Naoki-kun.  You know this."

Naoki looked like he really wanted to try and argue with her, but he only ended up deflating.  A bit of a miserable look came to his face as he peered up at her.

"…I guess I thought if I tried to say those things, and Junes ended up closing shop, maybe the neighbors would leave you alone," he admitted softly.

Saki paused a moment, but she was not entirely surprised by that.  She smiled, reaching out to give her brother a tight hug, even if he ended up squirming as he saw the camera crew outside still trying to film the inside of the shop, never mind it was hard to see the dark interior from the outside.

"With a little brother like you, I don't need to worry about those old hags," she said fondly, finally letting him go.  He rolled his eyes, but it did not keep her from giving him a small peck on the forehead before starting for the upstairs.

"Are you staying home tonight?" he asked curiously.

"No, not tonight," she replied.  "I've got to do something with a friend.  Why?"

She glanced back just in time to see him shake his head.  "A friend offered to help me study, so I'm going to go hang out with him for awhile.  I'll leave a message for mom and dad not to expect us home for supper."

Saki let out a soft breath; not that he would have, but she was grateful he did not try to insist on her letting their parents know that they would be out late.  For one, she was certain her father would not let her out, and for another, she really was in no mood for their disapproving glances.

Besides, she already had to deal with one disappointing adult in her life.

"Thank you, Naoki-kun.  Stay safe out there."

~.oOOo.~

_"Izanagi!"_

The Persona shot out from behind Adachi, slashing through the Shadows in their path as they could hear the echoing sounds of laughter through the castle walls.  A moment later, blasts of wind rose up, sending the ones that had not been cut to ribbons by Izanagi flying.  Saki came up behind Adachi as the winds died down and the Shadows vanished, fading back into the walls.  The laughter still echoed along the walls, taunting them to keep moving forward.

"That's… Amagi, isn't it?" Adachi asked.

"I'm not sure," Saki admitted.  "I've never heard her laugh like that before."

The hallways suddenly fell deathly silent, to the point where they could hear their breaths echoing off the empty hallways.  Adachi took a hesitant step forward, and he could feel the ground vibrate under his feet, making him freeze before he could continue forward.

_"My beloved prince… why must you leave without me?  Why couldn't you save me?"_

_"That_ was Amagi-san," Saki said softly, clutching her hands to her chest.

He glanced back at her, not even bothering to hide how freaked out he was.  "What is she talking about, her prince?"

Saki could only shake her head helplessly, as the sound of Teddie's squeaking footsteps came up behind them.  He cowered behind her, looking exceptionally uneasy at their surroundings.

"I-it's so bear-ren in here," he whimpered.  "It's like there's nothing left."

Adachi grumbled at that.  "Thanks, Teddie; we really needed help making this place creepier."

Saki shot a glare at him at that, resting a hand on Teddie's head.  "Don't yell at him!  He's only telling us what we needed to know!"

"We _really_ didn't need to know that!" Adachi snapped back, not in the mood for another argument with this kid and the beary unbearable bear.  Dammit, he had been around the two of them so much in the last few days that he was even making bear puns in his head!  "And besides, I wasn't yelling!  _This_ is yelling!"

A Shadow began to drip from the walls, and it was in the process of forming into something worse than the masked blob it started out as, when Adachi's arm snapped out, commanding Izanagi to let loose a blast of lightening without a word.  The blob dissipated before it could do anything, and the detective did not even miss a beat in his tirade.

"We've been trying to get to this kid for the past few days!" he continued.  "And so far I've been fried, icicled, and knocked on my ass repeatedly by wind blasts.  The monsters here are _creepy as all hell,_ and on top of it we've got her _psycho laughter_ echoing off the walls.  Oh, and here's the better part, _the fog is going to clear out in this world tomorrow!_ So no, _we really didn't need to know that it was bear-ren in here!"_

Adachi finally paused for breath at that, realizing that both Saki and Teddie had shrunk back at his tirade, and a little bit of guilt snuck up on his consciousness.  He finally backed off after a heartbeat, rubbing at the back of his neck.  The thought _did_ occur to him to apologize, but Saki beat him to it.

"You're right…" she murmured faintly.  "I'm sorry; we're both stressed out, I guess."

"I'm sorry too, sensei…" Teddie whimpered.

That just made Adachi feel worse, and a faint grumble escaped from him, before he planted his hand on Teddie's head, mussing the tuft of fur that was sticking up.

"Ah… yeah, this whole time since coming here has been crazy," he admitted as way of an apology."Can't really blame any of us."

He paused a moment at that, glancing around, before he let his hand drop from the bear's head.

"Teddie, can you tell if Amagi is anywhere close?"

Teddie squeaked forward, sniffing at the air for a moment.  It looked like he was straining his nose as far as he could strain it, before it seemed like a light bulb went off over his head.

"Ah!  She _is_ close!" he exclaimed.  "The next floor!  She's gotta be there!"

Adachi cast his eyes upward, thanking whatever gods were really out there as Saki dashed forward first, Teddie pawing along just behind her.  He brought up the rear, finally finding the stairs off the floor they were on and heading up to the next.  By Adachi's count, that was eight floors in this castle from Hell, and it was very clear that this was the last floor of the place.  For one, there were no Shadows to be found, only a pair of large, double doors that were different from the other doors in the place.  For another, there was an oppressive feeling coming from the other side, like there was a massive Shadow just waiting for them to bust in.

"She's there!" Teddie exclaimed, his tail wiggling.  "My nose knows it!"

For a brief moment, he could not help but wonder if there was any way to stop the unbearably pawful puns, before Adachi reached out, shoving open the doors.  They opened easily, revealing a massive throne room stretching out before them, with the actual throne on a raised dais at the far end of the room.  At the base of the stairs leading up to the throne was a girl with long black hair, dressed in a traditional pink kimono.  She looked like she was exhausted, and it was taking all the effort she could manage just to keep herself up on her hands and knees.

At the top of the stairs, however, was the same black haired girl, only this one was dressed in an over exaggerated, frilly pink princess gown, complete with crown; the same over the top girl that Adachi and Saki had seen on the Midnight Channel.  It looked like they had been in the middle of a conversation, but that was stopped short as Saki ran ahead first, calling out for Amagi as the other two followed behind.

"Oh!" the princess exclaimed as they reached the base of the stairs, ignoring Saki as she bent down to see if the real Amagi was all right.  Her eyes were on Adachi instead, and once he realized it, he wanted to squirm where he stood; he really did not like the feel of those creepy yellow eyes on him at all.  "Are you my new prince?" she continued.  "My, my… I should have gotten a better look at you!"

"Please don't…" Adachi muttered under his breath.  Seriously, as much as he was okay with ogling attractive women, even this was a bit much for him.  Still, she did not seem to pay much attention to his protest, instead fluffing her gown a bit, almost like she was preening for him.

"Let us fly away from this place, my prince!" she exclaimed.  "Far away, where no one knows my name, and no one can tell us what to do!"

Adachi could only stare blankly, not even sure how to _respond_ to that.  He leaned over a little toward Teddie, talking out of the corner of his mouth:

"What the heck is this?"

The bear's plush face screwed up in a frown.  "This has gotta be her Shadow; it's the feelings she's suppressing—"

The Shadow interrupted before he could say more, letting out a disappointed noise.  "What's the matter, my prince?  Why aren't you rushing to take me away from here?"  The light and airy tone she had been talking in until that point suddenly grew dark as she continued, "Don't tell me you're not good enough like my _last_ prince."

The real Yukiko Amagi looked up at that, what little color that was still in her face draining from it.

"What are you talking about…?"

Something rumbled deep inside the castle, and a strange sort of darkness started to seep up from under the Shadow's skirt.  Murmuring sounds came from the walls then, and Teddie let out a scared yelp, bolting to hide behind one of the columns on the far end of the room.

"Chie will save me… Chie will take me away from this place…" the Shadow began, those creepy yellow eyes glowing brighter as she stomped her foot.  "But Chie wasn't good enough!  Chie couldn't take me away from here, and now she's _dead!_ She's failed me as prince, and she didn't even have the decency to stay alive long enough for me to tell her!"

That was way more about one person than Adachi really needed to know.  Yukiko, meanwhile, was struggling to her feet, with Saki trying to help her get away from the Shadow.  She would not let her pull her away, even as she clung to her to stay standing.

"S-stop…!"

"Historical inn?  Manager training?!" the Shadow continued, her rant just started to go into full swing.  "I'm tired of all these things chaining me down!  And now I can't even share it with the one other person that was supposed to take away my pain!  I have no hope if I stay here, and no courage to leave on my own… so I sit on my ass hoping someday my prince will come, and _what good did it do me!?"_

"Stop it!  Please, stop!" Yukiko cried, stumbling away from Saki.  Even as she did, she lost her balance, landing with her knee hitting the top stair.  The Shadow glared down at her, a cruel smirk creeping onto her delicate face.

"But this is how I really feel," she said softly.  "Isn't that right, me?"

Yukiko shook her head furiously.  "N-no… you're not…"

Adachi nearly jumped out of his skin at that.  "No!  Wait!  Bad id—"

_"You're not me!"_

Oh hell.

The atmosphere of the room was oppressive as it was, but it just seemed to grow heavier as a result of those damn words.  The Shadow giggled in delight, wrapping her arms around her midsection and letting out a noise that was wholly inappropriate for the current situation.

"Mm… this feels so good…" she purred.  "If this keeps up, I'll…!"

The darkness exploded around the Shadow then, nearly knocking Adachi and Saki off their feet.  For a moment after the explosion cleared, it seemed like the Shadow had just disappeared, but that was quickly proven false.  A massive cage suddenly slammed into the ground from above them, cutting the two of them off from where Yukiko was.  The young teen screamed, but it was hard to see if she had been hurt as the cage suddenly sprang open, revealing the Shadow had turned into a massive red bird.  It puffed out its chest, pink and red plumage rustling above them.

_"I am a Shadow… the true self…"_

"Not this again…!" Adachi growled, shuffling backward as blazing hot feathers fell around them.  Saki did not bother to reply, letting out a yelp as she tried to avoid getting burned.

The Shadow let out an amused chuckle, flaunting itself before them.  "Come, my prince!  Let us dance and make merry together!"

"I'm really _not_ interested!"

Saki went running past him as more blazing hot feathers came raining down on them.

"Adachi!" she yelped.  "Stop thinking with the wrong head and focus!"

"I'm _not_ thinking with that!" Adachi snapped, shuffling back himself.

The more the bird creature flapped her wings, the more flaming feathers came raining down at them, until the carpet leading up to the throne caught fire.  Soon the throne room was overwhelmingly hot, to the point where it hurt to breathe, and Adachi and Saki had no choice but to continue to back off.

"Dammit, how are we supposed to get close enough to do anything?!" Adachi shouted over the roar of the flames.  The sound was overwhelming, but he could still hear something else over the fire: the sound of a girl screaming and crying in fright.  They really did not have a choice, did they?

_"Izanagi!"_

His Persona rushed forward, shooting through the flames despite the fact that Adachi felt like his feet were catching on fire.  Izanagi got close enough to strike; only the bird retreated into its cage just as his sword swung down.  A loud metal _clang_ hit the walls of the room, reverberating through the air and shaking the flames around it.  The cage snapped open almost immediately, sending Izanagi flying end over end.

"What kind of prince are you!?" the Shadow screeched.  "You can't take me away from here with such poor attacks!"

The bird's wings flapped hard, and not only did it send out more feathery flames, but it also blew the already existing flames closer to them.

"Saki, try and blow off some of these flames!"

"But if I do that, we could get caught in it!" Saki shot back at him.  "Amagi-san could get caught in it!"

"If we don't, we're going to get caught in it anyway!"

Saki looked like she wanted to scream, but she also did not see any other options at the moment.  Reluctantly, she called on Tsunade, having her Persona aim her wind spells toward the center of the flames, just like Adachi had been hoping she would do.  The flames began to part away from the wind, spurting and shooting off toward the walls, and the detective shot forward through the path created, despite the fact that Saki started screaming as soon as he started running.  It did not keep him from plowing straight ahead, right toward the bird Shadow.  It dipped low as soon as he was close enough, trying to pluck him off the ground like he was a worm, but Adachi tucked and rolled, bringing himself to the back of the cage where the monster could not follow him.

Amagi looked up in surprise as he suddenly appeared near her, looking like she was just shy of passing out from all the heat and the enormous toll being in this world for so long had taken on her.  Adachi scrambled over to cover her, and she clung to him, shaking and trembling, clearly scared out of her mind.

"W-who are you?" she shouted over the flames.

"Adachi Tohru.  I'm a detective," he answered, before he paused.  Right, he needed to be comforting and all that.  Maybe if he talked some sense into her like he did with Saki, the Shadow would be vulnerable again.  It seemed like the only chance they had at the moment, short of a massive fire hose that neither of them had.  "Look, I know you're scared and all of this is really creepy, but I need you to try and calm down, because it's only going to get worse if you don't."

She clung to him tighter in response.  "I don't… that thing, what it said…"

Adachi made a face that she could not see, trying not to roll his eyes.  Teenagers, man… he could not even remember being this uncertain about his own life.  Then again, his life had been pretty simple up until it came time for him to be an adult, but…

"Hey… I know it hurts," he replied, trying to keep his tone gentle for her.  She really did not need anyone snapping at her right now, not with her Shadow threatening to roast them all like chicken.  "You lost your best friend, someone that you looked up to and relied on.  I get that, but letting yourself despair a-and… and not trying to do anything on your own isn't going to help you heal.  You need to get out there, on your own two feet, and make your own life.  Live for two people, since she didn't get that chance, 'ya know?"

He knew he took a chance, taking advantage of the words he heard at the dojo, and for a moment he was afraid it did not have any effect.  She had fallen very quiet, barely even breathing, but after that moment had passed, she pressed her head against his shoulder, and he could feel her struggling against tears.

"You're right…"

The bird Shadow suddenly let out a screech of rage, and Adachi did not need to look up to see that it was weakening just like the slug monster had.  He wrapped one arm around Amagi, keeping a firm hold on her as he flung his other arm out toward his Persona.

On command, Izanagi rushed out to the bird monster, and he could see Tsunade just behind him.  The two struck out at the bird, and it could not get the chance to retreat into its cage this time.  Their strikes against it hit home, and suddenly the flames died away as both cage and Shadow burst into a cloud of sparkling red feathers.

For a moment, Saki stood on the other side of the room, exhausted, singed, and sweating terribly.  The next, she was running over to them, seeming like she was relieved to see them both alive, at least until she grabbed and started tugging on Adachi's ears.

"You… you… dumbass!" she shouted as the detective flailed.  "How could you just do that?!  Do you have any idea how scared I was?!  I thought you died!"

Adachi was about to try and shoot back at her, but any protests he had died when he glanced over to see the pretty pink princess standing where the bird cage had been.  Amagi stood, shaky on her feet as she struggled to go over to her Shadow, and it was a long moment before she was close enough to be able to reach out and take her hands.

"I'm sorry," she said softly.  "It's true, I've never liked the fact that my life was decided for me from the moment I was born.  With Chie, I thought that maybe someday, I would be able to escape from this life… but then she died, and I didn't know what I was going to do.  I felt so lost… it must have been hard for you as well."

She reached around her Shadow, holding her in a tight embrace.

"I'm so sorry, me."

A pained smile came to the Shadow's face, before she disappeared in a haze of blue, reforming above their heads as a beautiful woman dressed head to toe in pink, with a train of pink feathers connected to her wrists.  The newly born Persona faded away soon after, becoming a card similar to what Saki's had been, floating down until it touched Amagi and it too disappeared.

"This is…" she began, but she was so weak she did not have a chance to finish.  She fell to her knees just as Teddie squeaked his way over to them, a worried look on his face.

"Is she going to be okay?" he asked.

Saki hurried over to help her back to her feet, letting Yukiko rest heavily against her as Adachi climbed back to his, rubbing at his ears on the way up.

"We need to get out of here," he said, flinching.  "Even if she wasn't hurt, the fog's gonna roll outta here soon.  We don't wanna get caught in that."

~.oOOo.~

Saki stayed with Adachi and Yukiko long enough to make sure the inn heiress was safe and recovering in the hospital.  She had to leave immediately after, however; it was very close to midnight when they had made it out of the television at the police station, and the long trip to the hospital and back meant it was well after one in the morning before she was sneaking through the back door to her family's liquor store.

She peered around the downstairs, before quietly slipping up to top floor.  The buzzing from her parent's room immediately to her left meant that both of them were sound asleep, and probably did not pay any attention to the fact that she had been out so late.  She was fine with that, really, as long as they did not try to pretend they were worried the next morning; ignoring her, she could handle.  Pretending to care?  That was something else.

Before going to the bathroom for her much needed shower, she decided to peek into her brother's room, just to see if he was still awake.  Instead of seeing his desk lamp on, or him curled up on his bed, all she saw was an empty room, with the covers undisturbed from that morning.  A frown came to her face, but she dismissed it for now.  It would not be the first time he decided to stay over a friend's house, nor would it be the last.  She pulled out her cell phone, sending him a message to say she would see him at school, before going about her usual evening routine.

When she awoke the next morning, she was surprised to see that he had not responded to her text, despite the fact that he was probably awake before her like he usually was.  Saki forced herself to go through her morning routine, hoping it was just her cell phone playing games with her incoming messages as usual.  By the time she made it downstairs and out to the sidewalk, however, the nagging doubt in the back of her head made her whip her cell phone out again, pegging away to his number in her contact list and sending the call through…

She nearly jumped as she heard a familiar jingle from close by, looking around frantically.  He had set his ringtone for her as the Junes jingle as a joke, saying that every time she called everyone would run in terror from the evil of the store chain.  Her head whipped around, trying desperately to see where it was coming from, but there were hardly any people on the streets that early, and Naoki was not among the uniformed students milling toward the school zone.

The jingle played through again, and she could feel her heart pounding loud in her chest, before she and everything around her froze.  Suddenly, she knew, she just _knew_ where she needed to look, but fear of what she would see kept her rooted in place.  The jingle played through a third time, before there was a dinging sound, and in her ear she could hear the robotic message of Naoki's voice mail kicking in.

Slowly, like every little movement of muscle was taking years to process, she turned back toward her family's store, looking up toward the roof…

Her scream echoed through the entire shopping district, loud enough to make everyone stop and stare.


	10. Interlude

I think everything changed that day.

We had to close off the entire northern shopping district.  Civilians kept trying to sneak in glances of the victim's body, like it was some kind of animal on display in a cage.  By the time Dojima-san and I got there, the first responders looked massively harassed, but they had at least been able to get the victim down by then.  The parents were off to the side, the father holding the mother as she shook, trying to describe the last they knew of their son's whereabouts.  It wasn't much, of course; I caught mutterings of "a friend's house", but they didn't seem to know which friend it was.

And the sister…

Saki zeroed right in on me when I crossed over the police barricade, and I couldn't help but stop at the empty look in her eyes.  I felt like I needed to say something, anything, as my partner and I approached, but I couldn't think of a single damn thing.  I know Dojima-san glanced at me before he went off to investigate, but I just stopped before her, trying to do some kind of something that my training taught me when it came to dealing with victim's families, but it all felt so damn hollow at that moment.

She was the one to finally move first, reaching out to me and clinging to me really tight.  I damn near jumped out of my skin, looking around at all the eyes staring at me, knowing that someone was going to say something to me later.  I had to do _something,_ but… at that moment, as the ME rolled the body covered in a sheet past us, I finally figured out what the only thing I needed to do was.

I just reached an arm around her, letting her cry on my shoulder for awhile.


	11. Chapter Eight – Bitty Genius

There was a victims wall set up in the detectives' office the day after Naoki Konishi's death.

Adachi found himself staring at it that morning from his desk as he nursed his morning coffee, his mind racing as he tried to piece the pattern together.  Chie Satonaka died first, followed by Yosuke Hanamura, the person that found her, and then the brother of the only teen that knew Hanamura had evidence in Satonaka's death.  It was a clear message: whomever killed the first victim was shutting up possible witnesses.  Hanamura may have had evidence, but he was just human, and died in the television.  Saki had already survived against her Shadow, so the killer went after the person in her family that was vulnerable and would have the most impact.

He swore under his breath; that meant the killer also knew they could enter the TVs too.

Of course he did; Adachi realized in the next moment he should have figured that out sooner.  The person killing these people obviously knew what he was doing when he did it.  It was not too much of a stretch to think that he could see them entering the TV as well, or at least had some way of monitoring what was going on inside that world.  For a moment, the thought occurred to him that he could be another cop, but he dismissed the idea just as quickly; he was certain that they had not been followed into the interrogation room with the TV, and after the first incident, he made sure to disable the camera inside and erase the recording for that day.  Last thing he wanted was to have to explain why the hell he was sneaking a teenage girl into the department through the back and jumping into a TV.

Adachi was snapped out of his musing by an irritated sounding grumble across from him.  He glanced down in time to see Dojima flop into his seat, looking exceptionally annoyed.  His partner snapped his attention to him almost immediately, and Adachi shot up straight in his chair before Dojima could think to yell at him for slouching.

"Try not to look like you're just here to collect dust," he snapped at him anyway.  Adachi almost slouched back again just to spite him, but Dojima was continuing, "We've got someone from Headquarters coming down; they're bringing someone new in on the case."

Headquarters… Adachi had to fight to keep the bitter expression off his face.  Probably some other fresh faced rookie that…  He cut himself off before he could finish that thought; no, he did not want to think about it.

"Oh, really?" he asked instead, feigning interest.  "Who is it?"

Whomever it was, it had Dojima pissed; he wanted to congratulate this person for giving his partner someone else to be irritable about.  As it was, the older man just let out a noise that sounded distinctly like, "brat," but he did not answer him.  When it became obvious that he was not going to at all, Adachi just let out a sigh, slumping back in his overly large chair.

He did not get to slump for very long, as an important looking man in an equally important (and expensive) looking suit entered the room.  Dojima was on his feet immediately with Adachi close behind, and the man from headquarters shook his partner's hand first, giving him the chance to notice that there was something off with this whole thing.  Namely, that there was a small boy behind him; the kid was actually shorter than Adachi, which lately he was beginning to feel like that was a rare thing, and was dressed up like a detective you would find in a crime novel.  It was kind of cute really, and for a brief moment, he wondered if it was some kind of take your child to work day thing, but he dismissed it.  That seemed a little inappropriate for someone from the prefecture's main office.

"May I introduce Shirogane Naoto," the man began, indicating the boy behind him.  "We've called him in as a special consultant for the case."

…what?

Adachi felt his eyes bugging out of his head, though no one seemed to notice his reaction but the bitty detective child.  His eyes snapped to him immediately, and it felt like lasers were being drilled into his forehead from the power of that glare.  Yikes…

"Welcome on to the case, Shirogane-kun," Dojima replied stiffly, though it sounded more like he was saying, "Get the hell out of my office," instead.  Shirogane did not seem to notice, and if he did, he did not react to it in the slightest.  Instead, he put a hand on his hip like he was the one in charge, focusing his attention on Dojima.

"Thank you," he replied, in a voice that even sounded like he was trying to be more grown up than he actually was.  "If you don't mind, Dojima-san, I've already taken the liberty of doing some investigative work."

Adachi could see his partner twitch at being referred to by name without even introducing himself, but he did not get to dwell on it.  Suddenly Shirogane's eyes snapped onto him, and he could not help but lean back.

"Adachi Tohru-san?" he began.  "May I have a word with you in private?"

"Er… sure?" Adachi replied, not missing Dojima raising an eyebrow in his direction.

He did not look back to him as he headed toward the back, where the interrogation rooms were, his mind racing the whole time.  Oh, he had a feeling he knew where this was going to go, and he did not like it one bit.  Whatever conversation they were going to have, he had to make sure it was not on record.  If it was—

"What's wrong with this room?" Shirogane asked, making Adachi's panicked thoughts come to a grinding halt.  He turned around to see that he was standing by a slightly open room, peering inside to see if anyone was there.

"Ah… the camera isn't working in there," he fumbled out, never mind that he was taking him to the room that actually did not have a working camera.  "Dunno what's wrong with it."

He shuffled quickly down to the room with the television he and Saki used all the time, feeling like his heart was going to leap out of his chest.  Adachi paused as Shirogane stepped in after him, glancing sidelong at the TV; maybe if things got really bad, he could take a running jump inside?

"So, what did you want to talk about?" he asked, finally turning around to face him with one of his bright smiles on his face.  Shirogane did not even _blink,_ gazing at him with a measured glance.

"You were recently transferred here from the city, correct?" the boy detective asked, his forced mature voice even in tone.  "Just before the murders began."

"That's right," Adachi replied.  "Just my luck that big city crime would follow me out into the country, right?"

He let out a nervous laugh.  Shirogane finally blinked, but his eyes never left his face.  Damn, it was creepy how he could just _stare_ like that; normal people just did not do that!

"You were transferred because an 'accidental' discharge of your weapon killed a suspect."

There it was; Adachi fought back the urge to twitch at Shirogane bringing that up.  His usually cheerful and friendly expression was suddenly a bit forced as he tried to keep himself from snapping.  Instead he reached a hand back, only instead of rubbing at the back of his neck, he was practically clawing at it to keep himself from biting out a response.

"Er… kinda?" he replied.  "It was more the fact that the perp's girlfriend raised a big stink.  I'm just being shuffled away until it all blows over."

Shirogane did _not_ like that answer, and Adachi could tell before he even finished speaking.  His eyes narrowed at him, and the creeping, crawling feeling of a lecture coming his way was running up his spine before the kid even opened his mouth.

"You fired your weapon five times at the suspect, an entire round," he began.  "Of the five, two bullets hit him in the chest, one in the groin, and one in the head.  The other bullet missed and impacted against a building.  There was nothing 'accidental' about the shooting, and the only reason it is listed as such is because your partner at the time smoothed it over for you.  You are fortunate that you were shuffled away _anywhere_ that wasn't a jail cell."

Adachi felt like ice started running through his veins as Shirogane listed off the details of what happened that night.  He could not keep up his usual act, and his expression slowly soured until he was near scowling at him.  Finally, he forced out a breath, shoving his hands into his pockets, instead of wrapping them around the little brat's throat like he wanted to.

"And?" he asked, the cheerful tone gone from his voice.  "You think I got some kind of kick killing a guy, so I'm murdering people here?"

"You are the most likely suspect—"

"Please," Adachi cut him off.  "That's the kind of conclusion children come to."

He got him with that one; he could see Shirogane stiffen at that, anger flicking across his face for a moment.  The kid regained his composure quickly enough, but Adachi still had the pride of getting under his skin, even if it was just briefly.  He was not about to let that go either, especially since Shirogane had been on him like a hawk almost from the moment he stepped into the place.

"Look, kid," he began, the cheerful tone creeping back into his voice as he started for the door, "I shot a guy.  It's an occupational hazard.  You got an issue with that, talk to my rep in the prefectural office.  Until then, you should make yourself useful around here if you're going to be on the case.  I'm sure one of the guys would love a cup of coffee right now."

Adachi snapped the door open and headed out, not even bothering to look back, never mind he probably would have enjoyed the expression on Shirogane's face.  He got back to his desk just as Shirogane stormed out from the back room, not saying a word as he headed out.  The man from headquarters was gone by then, and Dojima was sitting back at his desk, looking even more irritable than when Adachi had left, though it did not keep him from raising an eyebrow at the bitty detective's fast exit.

"What did he want to ask you about?"

Adachi plopped himself in his chair, trying not to fidget.  "Oh… you know.  About things."

Dojima paused at that, glancing up at him, and if his expression was anything to go by, he had already figured out what those "things" were.  For a moment, he continued to stare at him as Adachi tried to preoccupy himself with paperwork, before finally setting his own aside with an irritated grumble.  For a moment, the two of them were just a couple of fidgety men, glancing at anything but each other in that uncomfortable silence, before Dojima finally spoke up.

"You get off work same time as me today, right?"

Adachi glanced up at that, before stealing a quick glance at his calendar.  "Yeah, looks like it."

His partner nodded once.  "Good."

That got Adachi to stop, looking at him curiously.  Before he could ask, however, Dojima flashed him a humorless smirk.

"We're getting drunk tonight."

~.oOOo.~

She could not focus on anything else, so she worked.

Saki stared down at her hands, watching them move back and forth along the countertop, but not really taking stock in what she was supposed to be doing.  She had been put on the griddle outside that day; mostly because her shift leader did not want her anywhere out in the open.  He did not even want her _there,_ and his first response to her presence was that she should be home with her family.  She could not be there, however; the media was still swarming around the liquor store, and her parents would not even look at her in their grief.  It would not have surprised her if they were going to start blaming her for Naoki's death; that the fact she worked at Junes was the reason he…

Saki pressed a hand to her mouth, trying to fight back against a choked sob.

"Senpai?"

The soft-spoken voice made her snap her head up, and she let out a faint sound of surprise to see Yukiko standing under the food stand's overhang.

"Amagi-san, how are you feeling?" she asked, forgetting about trying to clean down the counter and going to lean by the cash register.

"Tired, but I'll be fine," she replied, a small smile on her face, though it was clearly forced.  "Senpai… are you all right?"

Saki tried to say she was, like she told everyone else, but it was a lie she just could not keep telling.  She shook her head instead, letting it hang down as she bit her lip.

"…he was fine," she murmured softly.  "Just a few hours before we rescued you, he was just… his usual self.  And now…"

Yukiko reached out, placing her hands over hers gently.  "Yes… I know how you feel."

She let out a shuddering breath; they had both lost people that were very important to them.  Yukiko herself almost died and Yosuke…  A moment passed, before she reached a hand around, placing it over the younger teen's before she stood up straight.

"I'll be right back."

A moment later, she was coming back to the food court, minus her apron and with her bag slung over her shoulder; her shift leader had been more than happy to let her go home for the day, even if he had a sinking suspicion she would not actually be going home.  Yukiko smiled faintly when she saw her ready to leave, falling in step alongside her.

"What happens now?" she asked as they left the food court, peering at her curiously.

Saki let out a sigh, not even sure how to answer that.  The killer knew who they were, that much was obvious; after Chie, he had gone after Yosuke, who had evidence against him, and Yukiko, Chie's best friend, and now he had tried to go after her through her brother.  Whoever they were, they definitely had the upper hand; meanwhile they did not have a clue who it was, or why they were doing all this.

They were just starting onto the main street before she could finally think of an answer:

"We have to keep going," she said softly.  "I mean… we can't just let the killer have his way, can we?"

Saki glanced over to her, and she saw Yukiko was smiling again.  This time, however, there was a bit of a glimmer in her eyes; a sort of fierce determination she had not expected of her.  It was a bit refreshing, and she could not help but smile slightly; maybe with Yukiko on the team as well, they would have less trouble in the television.

"I was hoping you would say that," she replied as they passed by the ramen shop.  Saki vaguely spotted a grey haired man walking in with his arm around a guy, but she was more focused on Yukiko as she held her hands up, balled into enthusiastic fists.  "When do we start again?"

"Well…" Saki began, trailing off.  "If we stick close to the stage, maybe it can just be the two of us today?  The sooner you can get used to your Persona, the better off we'll be when we need rescue someone again."

Yukiko bobbed her head in a determined nod, and in the next moment, the two of them were running for the bus stop so they could take the next bus to the police precinct.

~.oOOo.~

One thing Adachi had to admit: Dojima had some damn good booze.

He had to hold onto the door of his apartment as it swung open, letting the force of the swing drag him inside as well.  Unfortunately, he lost his grip once it hit the wall, and he fell into a heap on the kitchen floor, letting out the most immature giggle as he flopped his arms and legs about.  He really needed that after the last couple days; an excuse to get completely hammered and not give a shit.

Carefully, he pulled himself off of the floor, kicking the door closed before kicking his shoes off.  Somehow he managed to get enough coordination to lock the door, before he half shuffled, half crawled over to his bed.  He let out another immature giggle as he collapsed onto the bed, letting it squeak loudly in protest as his blankets and pillows fluffed up around him.  The thought that he still needed to shower for work the next morning occurred to him, but he was so content with where he fell that he did not even try to get up.  He could always wake up early and wash then…

A faint _hiss_ of rain coming from outside sobered him up really fast.

Adachi's head snapped up as he turned toward his window, watching the tree just outside bob and sway as it was pelted with rain.  He turned his bleary eyes to the clock next, watching as the minute hand slowly ticked toward Midnight.  There just could not be anything now… could there?  What more could the killer do now, after what just happened…?

Once the clock struck midnight, there was a loud _snap_ as his unplugged television turned itself on, and a hazy yellow fuzz appeared on the screen.  In the next moment, a figure appeared, standing with one hand on their hip.  Other than how they were standing, it was impossible for him to make anything else out; the yellow fuzz on top of the fact that he was drunk completely destroyed his ability to discern what he was looking at.

The minute clicked over, and the image snapped out.  Adachi started counting off the seconds in his head, and as expected, his cell phone went off.  He let out a sigh as he answered, pinching the bridge of his nose.

"…my TV just ruined a perfectly good buzz," he grumbled into the receiver.  "Please tell me you saw more than just someone standing there."

"That's why I was calling you," Saki admitted on the other side of the line.  "That wasn't at all like what happened with Yukiko.  What was that?"

Adachi grumbled faintly, rubbing at his eyes.  "Well… s'kinda like when I saw her before her Shadow."

"Do you think it's some kind of message?" she asked.  "A warning of who he's going to kill next?"

"That sounds too easy," he replied.  "This guy is thinking five steps ahead of us; he's not going to drop a clue like that.  S'too risky."

"You're right…" Saki admitted, sounding a bit disappointed.  "Well… we should get together tomorrow and talk things over.  Good night, Adachi-san."

Her end of the line clicked off, and Adachi let out a frustrated sigh, before he made his body get back on its feet.  No use denying the fact that his happy buzz was gone; he may as well just get himself clean and hope for a night of pleasant dreams.

~.oOOo.~

One of these days he would learn not to drink so much.

Adachi kept his head rested on the food court table, his arms over his head in an effort to block out the sunlight above.  So far he had two coffees, three donuts, and a rice ball, and nothing had been enough to satisfy the pain pounding away at his temples.  Across the table from him, Yukiko was giving him a sympathetic look, familiar with the aftermaths of a night of drinking from working at the inn.  Saki, however, was far less sympathetic, and made it a point to slam the drink she got for him on the table as loudly as possible.

Adachi cringed in pain from the noise, lifting his head enough to glare at her, before forcing himself up the rest of the way.  He grabbed his drink, sucking on the straw sourly as Saki sat down.  She pulled out a notebook and pen, starting to write names down.

"So, this is what we know," Saki began.  "Satonaka Chie was the first victim.  Why?"

"No idea," Adachi mumbled around his straw.  "ME couldn't find a cause of death, and no one knows her whereabouts the day before."

"I'm sorry," Yukiko said softly.  "I don’t remember where she said she was going; I was in such a rush to get home."

Saki tried to give her an encouraging smile before she continued, "Wherever she was, Hana-chan had evidence in her murder.  He confronted the killer, and died.  Then the killer went after Yukiko."

"He probably realized that you'd be the one to know where Satonaka was going that day," Adachi pointed out, waving his cup at Yukiko.  "Never mind that you couldn't remember; a careful criminal isn't gonna take that risk."

Saki nodded, and was about to continue when a familiar voice of forced maturity cut her off:

"Careful criminal?  You're giving the suspect too much credit, Adachi-san."

Adachi twitched, not even bothering to hide the irritation on his face.  Yukiko and Saki both cast him curious glances as he rubbed a hand over his face, before turning into the ungodly bright sun with a fake smile plastered onto his face.

"Shirogane-kun!" he exclaimed, his cheerful voice coming out forced.  "What brings you to Junes?"

Shirogane tipped his hat up, just enough for Adachi to see the young detective give him a, "You know why I'm here," look.    He _really_ wanted to snap just then, but somehow he managed to contain himself.  Still, the little brat smirked slightly, letting his hat rest properly on his head.

"I need to keep track of all suspects in the case, of course," he finally replied.  Adachi's smile slipped a bit, and the urge to throw his drink at the cheeky bastard was strong.  The last thing he needed was this little brat spouting off why he was even in Inaba in front of these two; he did not want to deal with the backlash he would more than likely get, especially from Saki.  Yukiko stood up before he could act on that urge, staring down Shirogane in disbelief.

"Adachi-san is a good man," she protested.  "He would never do such a thing."

Adachi paused at that, staring at Yukiko like she was a rare breed; between Saki and Dojima, it had been so long since someone came to his defense that he forgot what it felt like.  Maybe he could be okay with her hitting on him; just as long as it was actually her and not her creepy Shadow.

Saki, of course, had to ruin the moment.  "I don't know about good man, but Adachi's too stupid to pull anything like this off."

That earned her a glare, not that she seemed to notice.  It did not help either that Shirogane seemed to agree with that assessment, if the smirk that appeared on his cocky little face was any clue.

"Regardless, his behavior has made him suspect," Shirogane continued.  "This is a small town, Adachi-san.  When you stop your patrols to converse with teenage girls and disappear for hours at a time, people will notice."

Adachi could see the color drain out of Saki's face out of the corner of his eye, and for once he was glad she did not have anything to say.  There was no need to make this worse right now; last thing he wanted was for the bitty detective to come up with some crazy idea, like he was agreeing to a murder spree because of a jilted teenager or something like that.  Shirogane held his gaze on them for a long moment, his expression severe, before he finally let it drop, placing a hand on his hip.

"Well… enough of that," he said.  "I actually came to tell you that you're not on my suspect list anymore."

"…eh?" was the only reply Adachi could manage, blinking in surprise.  He was answered by another insufferable smirk.

"The answer is obvious," he replied.  "Despite your questionable behavior, you did not have access to the first victim; your whereabouts at the time of death are on record at the station.  The same is true of the death of second victim.  While you could have had easy access to the third, you were reported at the hospital at the pronounced time of death."

"Thanks for telling us something we already knew," Adachi responded dryly, noticing that Saki's hand was clenching into a fist at how casually Shirogane was referring to the deceased, like they were not even real people.  He caught her eye, shaking his head and hoping she would calm down.

"Therefore," Shirogane continued, missing the exchange, "the focus needs to be on the school itself.  There are two connections all of the victims of this crime have: they are from Yasogami High School, and they were all on television before they were murdered."

Adachi's eyes near bugged out of his head; oh damn, how the hell did this little runt figure out about the Midnight Channel so damn quickly!?

"But, Chie was never on television," Yukiko protested, only to have Shirogane shake his head.

"She was.  There was a report made at the entrance to Yasogami High about the safety of schools in the area the day before her death.  The original tape has her kicking the second victim in the stomach.  While it was edited to remove the act of violence, she is still seen briefly in the recording."  He paused, shifting his stance to fold his arms over his chest.  "In addition, as an employee at the local Junes and son of the manager, the second victim was routinely seen in shots of the store taken for location specific commercials.  Just before his murder, the third victim was recorded making a statement about the impact the store had on the local community."

Adachi wilted slightly in relief; glad that he was wrong, but Saki was a different story.  She at least let Shirogane finish before she finally snapped, slamming her hands down on the table as she shot up from her seat.

"Stop talking about them like that!" she bit out.  "They were real people, not just objects you can poke at or talk about like they weren't important!"

For a moment, a very brief moment, Shirogane's composure slipped, and it looked like he had no idea what he was supposed to do.  It was a bit refreshing to see the brat caught off guard like that, but it only lasted a moment before he was back to his usual, though his voice was slightly subdued.

"This is a case, Konishi-san, and I will treat it as such," he replied, turning around to leave.  "Regardless of how I view the victims, it doesn't change the fact that this is a murder investigation, one I plan to close."

He began to walk away with that, and Saki's hands curled up into fists against the table.  She was shaking, fighting back tears again for the billionth time since her brother died, and even Adachi was not crazy enough to make a comment on it.

"This isn't a game, you know!" she shouted after him, before Yukiko rested a hand on her shoulder, guiding her back to her seat.  For a moment she just sat there, clinging to the edge of her skirt, before she shot a glare at Adachi.  "You better solve this case!  If that little brat figures this out before we do, I'll never forgive you!"

Adachi just let out a sigh in response.

~.oOOo.~

Yukiko let out a tired sigh as she finished her shift at the Inn for the night, rubbing a hand over her drooping eyes.  She was still exhausted from her ordeal in the television, but she still needed to force herself into training, and getting into shape so she could be helpful to Adachi-san and her senpai.  She did not want to be as weak and helpless as she felt when Chie died, but unfortunately it was leaving her exhausted by the end of the night.  Her family had noticed, and were trying to give her less work to do to help her, but she still felt it necessary to do all she could.

She paused in the lobby of the Inn, glancing up at the clock resting over the television set; almost midnight, and she could hear the steady patter of rain outside.  Perhaps whomever had been on the television the night before would be easier to see now?

Yukiko waited, hands folded in front of her, until the minute snapped over to midnight.  With a whine, the television turned on, revealing the same hazy yellow image before.  The person was standing there with their hand on their hip, but it was impossible to tell just who it might have been just from their posture…

…or perhaps not.

Yukiko's eyes lit up, realization striking her as the Midnight Channel snapped off.  She was fumbling for her cell phone in the next moment, calling Saki as fast as her fingers would allow her.

"Senpai!" she exclaimed softly, careful not to be too loud.  "I think I know who the next victim is!"


	12. Chapter Nine – The Evil Scientist's Lair

It was weird that the food court in Junes was becoming their headquarters.  On one hand, Adachi could understand it; it was hard enough sneaking two girls into the police station as it was just to dive into the TV.  Trying to find a place near the station to meet up was out of the question, and going anywhere in Inaba without half the populace talking about it the next day was impossible.  Hiding out in plain sight was really their only option for a meeting place.

He paused, glancing around; the only people in the food court that afternoon were a bunch of gossiping housewives and a kid with dark hair.  Once he was satisfied they were too preoccupied with what they were doing to listen to them, he turned his attention back to the two girls.

"Shirogane was on the TV?" he repeated Yukiko's words.  "You're sure?"

She gave a nod, and determined look on her face.  "The person on the screen was standing the same way he was, with their hand on their hip.  If it is like what happened with me, then he'll be the next victim."

"And now the question is, do we really want to warn him?" Saki asked bitterly, picking at her work apron.

"No, the question is _how_ do we warn him," Adachi replied, though the thought of _not_ warning the cheeky little brat was tempting too.  Sometimes it sucked being the adult.  "It's not like anyone's going to believe us if we tell them the murderer's gonna toss them into a TV."

Saki fixed him with an incredulous look.  "Adachi, you're a detective!  Can't you just say they might be at risk and take them into protective custody?"

"I need _permission_ for that," Adachi grumbled back at her.  "Dojima-san won't believe me any more than Shirogane will."

"Maybe we should kidnap him first," Yukiko suggested.

"Hello!  Detective at the table!"

"Maybe we don't have to mention the being tossed in part," Saki snapped in before Adachi could make any more sarcastic comments.  "Maybe if we just explain the Midnight Channel and the fact that everyone on it has been a target, he'll listen."

Adachi considered a moment, before he let out a breath.  "Yeah… that could work.  I take it I'm the one that gets to deliver this happy news, hunh?"

He may as well have not even asked.

Hunting down Shirogane after their meeting broke up was not much of an issue; all Adachi had to do was follow the trail of gossiping women and irritated men.  In the short time that the bitty detective had come to Inaba, he had already made himself notorious; the rest of the police force could not stand a kid being brought in to help with the case, and most everyone he questioned were left annoyed by his cold attitude.  The kid definitely was not out to make friends, and Adachi could see that plain as day as he finally spotted him on the street.

He nearly got bowled over by a young man in a Yasogami High uniform, mumbling an apology without looking at him as he stormed away from the young detective.  Adachi glanced between the teenager and the runt, fighting back the urge to let out an aggravated sigh; this was not going to be easy.  He did not get paid enough to deal with this crap.  Still, he plastered a friendly smile on his face as he stepped closer to Shirogane, trying to think of how he was going to break this to the kid.

"H-hey, Shirogane-kun!" he began, telling himself to _keep smiling._ "Any luck finding a new suspect?"

Shirogane's gaze on him was cold in return, and he swore he could feel ice crawling up his spine.  Would it kill this kid to actually smile?  Probably.

"I'm afraid not, Adachi-san," he replied stiffly, turning to leave.

The temptation to just let him walk off was strong, almost irresistible.  For a moment, Adachi even fought with himself, trying to just turn around and walk away, let the arrogant little prick deal with his own issues.  Finally, however, he just let out an exhausted sigh, moving to go after him.

"Hey… listen, there's some new info I just confirmed," he began, and Shirogane stopped, half turning with a curious eyebrow raised.  Well, at least he got his attention.  "There's this channel that comes on at midnight—"

And he immediately lost his attention; as soon as he said the word "midnight", Shirogane's expression soured.

"You're referring to the urban legend of the station that comes on when your television is turned off on a rainy night."

He could already tell where this was going to go.  "Er… yeah."

The kid looked at him like he was insane, before letting out an impatient noise.  That hand was on his hip again as he faced him, and now that Adachi knew to look for it, he could easily tell that this kid was definitely the person on the televisions at night.

"Adachi-san," he began, "I am used to police personnel that will not take me seriously due to my age, but do not belittle me by passing off ridiculous stories as actual fact."

He called it; Adachi's expression soured, and he had to resist the urge to reach out and smack him.  Rookies were always like this; they always thought they knew better than the older, more experience detectives.  The fact that this little brat was _actually a kid_ did not help his opinion of him much.

"Word of advice, kid," he grumbled out at him, "always investigate every angle.  Sometimes there's a logical reason behind the strange and ridiculous."

Shirogane raised a cocky eyebrow at that.  _"You're_ lecturing me?"

Adachi's hand curled up around his pant leg; no, he had to keep his arm _down._ "It's a lesson we all learn.  Take it to heart now while you're still young."

He turned then, ignoring the annoyed look that was directed toward him, too irritated himself.  He had a feeling trying to warn people was not going to work; no sensible person was going to believe that if they appeared on a television station that only comes on when the TV was off they were going to be murdered.

Adachi made it halfway down the next block, before he stopped and sighed, running a hand through his hair.  The only thing they could do now was wait and see if Shirogane went missing; with a kid like that, even his imagination was stretched trying to think of what would come up on the screen.

~.oOOo.~

The image on the screen was what you would expect to see on a kid's super hero show, with bright lights, eerie fog, and equipment that would be used by the villain to torture the heroes.  The lights hanging from the ceiling were focused on some sort of lab, and closer inspection revealed the main focus to be a surgical table, thick black straps dangling over the side.  For a moment, all that could be heard was a whisper of fabric and a faint chuckle, before someone finally spoke:

"Good evening, everyone."

A person appeared on the screen; they were short, and dressed in a lab coat that was too big for them, as the sleeves extended far past their hands.  It was hard to immediately see their face, as a blue cap was hung low over their eyes, but it would be familiar to anyone that had the misfortune of dealing with the new talk of the town.

"I am the Detective Prince, Shirogane Naoto," he continued.  "Welcome to 'Experiment of the Century: The Genome Project'.  I will be experimenter and experimentee both in a forbidden yet wonderful bodily alteration process!  You shall witness my departure into a new realm… the moment of a new birth!  And I will share this glorious occasion with all of you!  Do stay tuned!"

The person on the screen raised their arms, sleeves dangling as they struck a dramatic pose, before the TV snapped off.

A moment of silence hung thick in the air, before it was cut through by the sound of the phone ringing.  Numb hands fumbled over for the device, trying to remember how fingers were supposed to work as they tried to hit the answer button.

"Yeah?"

"So, you saw that, hunh…"

Saki let out a breath at Adachi's voice, having trouble shaking the feeling of unease in the pit of her stomach.

"Yeah.  I saw."

"Yeah…"

There was a long pause, before they both asked each other at once:

"Do we have to go?"

~.oOOo.~

It was getting to be a lot easier to jump into the alternate world through the TV screen.  Adachi was not even falling over on his behind anymore when he emerged into the foggy landscape.  He was already pulling his glasses on as Saki came out, followed by a very hesitant Yukiko behind her.  The younger girl paused, squinting into the fog, before pulling out her own set of glasses.

"Hey, when did you get a pair?" Adachi asked.

Yukiko glanced at Saki, looking a bit uneasy when she answered, "Ah… Konishi-senpai and I have been coming here to train."

For not the first time that week, Adachi wanted to scream.  "You guys have been sneaking into the station on your own!?"

"Yeah, so?" Saki replied stiffly, her tone leaving very little room for argument.  "You've got a serious job; we can't always wait for you to be free."

"Yeah, but…!" Adachi tried to protest, but she completely ignored him, stepping forward and looking around for Teddie.  The squeaking of his footsteps reached their ears a moment later, and the bear came out of the fog from down a walkway.  He beamed when he saw Adachi, zooming right over to him.

"Sensei!  Welcome back!"

Adachi fumbled as his leg was bear hugged, trying not to sound too exasperated.  "Y-yeah… glad to be back, but we've got a problem here.  Someone else got shoved in."

Teddie jumped off of him, suddenly serious.  "Oh!  Who?  My nose is rawring for some action!"

Someone please stop the puns; Adachi put a hand over his face, trying not to sigh.  Saki picked up without missing a beat, ignoring him as usual.

"His name is Shirogane Naoto," she began.  "He calls himself the… Detective Prince?"

"Not really," Adachi cut in.  "It's what he's known as.  He's a genius whiz kid when it comes to solving cases, and has been working as a private detective since he was young.  The department calls on him when they need assistance with tough cases like this."

"So that's why he's been all over Inaba?" Yukiko asked, and Adachi gave a nod in answer.  "I saw him questioning some classmates of mine, though I suppose 'harassing' is a better description."

"Yeah, he's been all over the shopping district too," Saki added.  "He's already made himself pretty infamous with his attitude."

Teddie let out a loud _hmmm_ noise, pressing his hands to the side of his head.  He sniffed around at the air, turning around and around as he tried to pin down Shirogane's scent.  His nose was sniffing at rapid fire, twitching and twitching, before he finally let out a despairing sigh.

"I… I think I've got something, but I can't be sure," he whimpered.  "D'ya have anything else for me to go off of?"

Saki and Yukiko gave each other unsure looks, while Adachi frowned in thought.  There was that conversation he had with the kid, before he got nabbed…

"…he's used to being treated like a kid," he finally replied.  "That's what he told me; going off of what we saw last night, he's probably insecure about who he is."

Saki cast a surprised glance his way as Teddie let out a confident noise, sniffing at the air again.  After a moment, it was like a light went off over his head and he jumped, flailing his stubby little legs.

"I've found him!  Follow me!"

Teddie took off down one of the walkways, the three of them following close behind.  They passed by an endlessly foggy landscape, and Adachi glanced out over the walkway as they ran, feeling like he would fall forever if he ever fell over the edge.  His stomach flopped at the thought, and thankfully his feet came down on solid ground in the next moment, drawing his attention back to the area ahead of him.

They came out into a forest, a stretch of pavement cutting through the trees.  A little farther down the path, what looked like a bunker started to poke through the twisted greenery, with a chain link fence starting to grow out of the earth.  It was not very long before they were standing before the structure, half looming out of a mountainside.  A faint breeze was coming from somewhere, making the massive flags that lined the front walls sway back and forth, the strange emblem on them folding and flopping with it.  Over all, it looked like a stage set ripped directly from a Sunday morning heroes show than an actual military bunker.

Both Saki and Adachi stopped before it, looking at the entrance, remembering the scene that had played out on the screen the night before, and…

"I don't wanna go in."

They both paused, before turning a glare at each other for doing the same thing again.  Teddie and Yukiko just looked confused at their objection, and for a moment Yukiko's mouth worked, not even sure how to respond.

"But… we need to save him?"

She did not even sound so sure of that.  Adachi let out a sigh as he started forward, not looking forward to this one bit.

"I have a little brother, I know _exactly_ what happens on shows like this," Saki replied, reluctantly following behind him.  Adachi was just glad he was facing forward, so she could not see him cringe at her using the wrong verb tense.  Yukiko was giving her back a sympathetic look, before following with Teddie bringing up the rear.

The inside of the base was just as unsettling as the outside, with iron walls decorated with the same emblems as the outside surrounding them.  A green haze settled over everything, with lights along the walls flickering different colors.  Adachi took a hesitant step forward, his shoes clacking against the metal grating of the floor, only to have the sound echo loudly in the narrow corridor.  An alarm sounded a second later, blaring loud enough to make the four of them cover their ears.

_"UNKNOWN INTRUDER DETECTED INSIDE FACILITY. THREAT LEVEL: YELLOW. DEPLOYING GUARDS INSIDE THE FACILITY. WARNING! WARNING! ATTENTION INTRUDERS! LEAVE THE FACILITY IMMEDIATELY! I REPEAT: LEAVE THE FACILITY IMMEDIATELY!"_

Adachi turned to go right back out, only to have both girls grab him by the arms and pull him further inside.  He flailed as they dragged him through the first door, before they suddenly let go, letting him drop to the ground.  An irritated grumble escaped from him as he rolled over to get up, pulling his head up just in time to see the big "guards" the warning message had been talking about.  They were huge, looming well over the girls and three times as wide as them, and might well have seemed like enlarged humans were it not for the massive holes in their chest.

Yukiko snapped a fan out from her back pocket: it was just a normal fan, not even a tessan, but it served well for shattering her Arcana card.

_"Come!  Konohana-Sakuya!"_

The feathery pink Persona appeared, twirling about to the accompaniment of jets of fire.  Saki's own Persona zipped through the flames, making quick work of whatever guards were left standing.  The quick action left Adachi staring, at a loss for words, and Saki glanced down at him, her expression neutral.

"Try to at least _pretend_ you know what you're doing."

Adachi just growled in return, crawling back to his feet.

The four of them raced through the halls of the military-like installation, shadows ready for them behind nearly every door.  Going through was much easier this time around, now that they were playing it smarter with their Personae and had an extra person, but that did not mean it was any less dangerous.  Saki had been knocked down several times as they descended the levels, with Adachi favoring no better than her.  Yukiko was struggling to keep up with them both, despite the two girls sneaking in training time together, but thankfully her Persona knew some healing abilities to make up for it.  It did not help that they kept running into locked doors, forcing them to push on ahead, checking every section they could for the keycards needed to open them up, to no avail.

When they finally descended to the sixth floor of the place, was when everything changed.

_"UNKNOWN INTRUDERS HAVE ARRIVED AT B-SIX-F!  ELIMINATE THE INTRUDERS! ELIMINATE THE INTRUDERS!"_

"Oh that doesn't sound good," Adachi muttered, rubbing the side of his head where he had been hit by one of the big guards' weapons.

As if responding to Adachi, the walls around them began to vibrate, and a rumbling sound could be heard in the distance.  Saki braced herself, looking around for the source; it sounded close, but they still could not see whatever the source was.

"Should we retreat?" Yukiko asked, sounding alarmed.

"Don't ask us that," Adachi replied, hesitant to go forward.  He glanced at Saki; as much as he rather just leave Naoto and his crappy attitude to get turned into a Shadow Snack, he was pretty sure he would not have been able to live with himself if he let it happen when he could have prevented it.  A sigh escaped from him, before he forced himself ahead, rushing down the hallway with Saki and Yukiko following just behind, Teddie bringing up the rear as usual.

They rounded a corner and approached a door, the rumbling getting worse the closer they got to it.  Adachi came to a stop, letting out a nervous breath, before reaching over to press the release for the door.  It swung away like all the others, revealing a massive hanger lined in caution tape and bright lights.  Unfortunately, they were already running inside before they noticed the very center of the room, where there was a hulking, humanoid mecha, _far_ taller than any of them, wielding a very large and very sharp sword.

"Wrong room!" Adachi squeaked as the sword came swinging down on them, forcing their group to dive to the side or risk being cut in half.  Teddie wailed, bolting to hide behind a pillar as Adachi rolled, coming up to his knees and holding his hand out.

_"Persona!"_

Izanagi appeared, lightning lashing out at the massive machine.  Unfortunately, it did not seem to do much, other than piss the Shadow off.  It turned toward the detective, sword swinging around and almost relieving him of his head.  Fortunately he was able to send Izanagi away and flatten himself against the ground before that could happen.  Flames sprung up around the mech in the next moment, but again it did not seem to bother it too much; it half turned, snapping its leg out and hitting Konohana-Sakuya hard, sending her against the wall as Yukiko curled up in pain.  Saki hurried forward to defend her, Tsunade striking out against the machine.  The Persona's physical attack just clanged loudly against it, and only got itself smacked away in retaliation.

Adachi forced himself back up to his feet, shaking as he called Izanagi out again; they were going to be sliced and diced if they did not do something dramatic… and he thought he had a pretty good idea of what to do.  That armor was the problem; it was shrugging off their attacks, but if they could bypass it and strike directly inside… Izanagi darted around to defend the girls, matching the machine sword for sword as he waited, holding his breath.  This was going to be as crazy as they could get, but if it worked, then they would all come out of this with their lives, hopefully.

His Persona forced the machine to take a step back, and Adachi threw himself forward, running toward the machine and taking a flying leap.  He grabbed hold of the lower part of the Shadow's leg, holding on tight as its immediate reaction was to try and shake him off.  Izanagi was on the machine in the next moment, however, forcing it to defend itself and allowing Adachi to climb up.  It was tough going; when the mech was not moving around to fight back against his Persona, it was twisting around, trying to shake him off.  More than once he had to cling for dear life, his legs flying out as it turned around and around before Izanagi pounced on it again.

Once he reached the Shadow's shoulders, however, he was able to stand up, holding onto the head as it thrashed around.  Adachi pulled his sword from its sheath then, raising it up and _plunging_ it down as hard as he could into the head of the unit.  He could hear sparks coming from inside, but they were about to get worse.

_"Izanagi now!"_

His Persona reared back as Adachi took a flying leap off of the machine's shoulders, and he got to see lightning come down, hitting his metal blade and sending a powerful _jolt_ though the entire machine, before he hit the ground and blacked out.


	13. Chapter Ten – The Hardboiled Detective

Consciousness came back to him slowly, the world around him a blurry mess.  He blinked repeatedly, trying to make everything come into focus, only to see something soft and lumpy hanging above him when his vision finally cleared.  He smiled lazily, not thinking as he reached out, and…

…before he could get a handful, he got slapped across the face.

Adachi blinked repeatedly, coming back to his senses as the owner of those lovely mounds sat back, _fuming_ in rage.

"We've been worried sick, and the first thing you think to do is to try and cop a feel!?" Saki bellowed, making the detective's ears ring.  He groaned, holding his head as he tried to sit up, the world spinning around them.

"I'm a _guy,_ what do you expect when you shove your chest in my face?" he grumbled, as the steady tap and squeak of footsteps could be heard just outside the room.  Yukiko and Teddie appeared in the room after a moment, the former looking a bit drained and out of breath.  She seemed relieved when she saw Adachi was awake, however, a small smile coming to her face.  Well, at least _someone_ could appreciate the fact that he woke up again.

"I'm glad you're okay," she said softly.  "Teddie-san and I have been looking around; I think we've found where Shirogane-kun is."

"Great," Adachi grunted, fumbling back up to his feet.  "Let's get this over with."

Saki stood up after him, ready to catch him if he fell back over.  She eyed him critically as he held his head, folding her arms over her chest once it was clear he was not going to fall over.

"We should retreat for now," she objected.  "You're hurt, and we don't know how hard it will be to fight against his Shadow."

"Do you _really_ want to fight through all those guards again?" he shot back, and Saki could not object to that.  Neither of them wanted to go through this twice.  He gave a nod at that, going over to pick up his sword where it had fallen, giving it a good look over.  The hilt was singed from the blast, but it still seemed to be okay; he slipped it back into its sheath, hesitating a moment.  "…this thing's been through hell the last few days.  Nice to see it holding up."

Saki blinked, tilting her head.  If that was supposed to be some strange sort of thank you…  After a moment, she smiled faintly, tapping the toe of her shoe against the ground.

"With the way you use it, I'm surprised," she replied, a hint of a teasing tone creeping into her voice.

Adachi reached behind him, rubbing awkwardly at the back of his neck, before speaking again, "All right, let's get going."

The four of them bolted from the room, following Yukiko's lead.  The base was eerily silent, and except for the fact that the lights were now red instead of green, not much had changed.  It was only a moment before they reached the door Yukiko had found without any Shadows to impede their progress, and she paused outside of it, pulling a keycard from her pocket.

"That Shadow dropped this when you destroyed it," she explained as she handed it over to Adachi.  "Our leader should have the honors."

Adachi tried not to make a face at that; he did not exactly want to be a leader for a bunch of teenagers, but it did not look like he had much of a choice right now.  Oh well, at least if Shirogane decided to join them after this, there would be another guy on the team. A sigh escaped from him as he grabbed the keycard and slid it through the slot by the door.  The door glided open wide like all the others, and the three humans bolted inside, with Teddie hanging back as usual.

The scene that greeted them could not be any farther removed from what happened with Yukiko's Shadow.  They arrived at the laboratory that had been shown on the TV the night before, with the two versions of the person they had come for by the lab table.  Shirogane was standing with his hand on his hip as usual, a bored expression on his face.  His Shadow was curled up on the ground with his back pressed up against the table, overly large sleeves held up to his face as he sobbed softly.

Adachi came to a stop, staring at the ridiculous sight in disbelief.  "Geeze, you even made your Shadow cry?  What kind of heartless kid are you?"

Shirogane started at that, turning around to face them.  Surprise registered on his face for a moment, before he let out a faint chuckle, shaking his head.

"I should have known you were involved somehow," he began.

"We're here to rescue you," Yukiko said, before glancing at the Shadow and adding, "…I think."

Shirogane smirked at that.  "Well, I appreciate the assistance.  Dealing with this child has been a pain."

He moved to join them, when the Shadow let out a loud sniff.  "No!" he wailed.  "No, no, don't go!"

The young detective looked exasperated as he turned around again.  "Speaking with you is pointless.  I have more important things to do."

Adachi put a hand to his head, somehow managing to keep his mouth shut.  Funny though; he felt the same way about dealing with the kid.

The Shadow sniffled again.  "Why?  Why're you leaving me here? Why am I always left alone?"

Shirogane let out a tired sounding sigh, like he had already heard this multiple times before.  "You wear the same face as me, like you are trying to imply we are one and the same.  It's ridiculous to even see myself so pathetic."

Adachi let out an awkward noise, and Saki looked like she was going to try and tell him that no, it was a bad idea to say things like that.  The Shadow suddenly stopped his crying before they could get the chance, lowering the sleeves from his eyes to reveal glowing yellow daggers glaring at Shirogane.  The Shadow stood then, a bitter scowl on his face.

"Why do you continue to delude yourself?" he asked as Shirogane took a step back at the sudden change of attitude.  "You know these childish gestures are the truth.  The fools all say it: 'You're only a child'.  That fool there has all but said it to your face."

Adachi fixed a bland look on the Shadow; why did these things insist on dragging him into their issues?

"It's only your brain they're interested in," the Shadow continued.  "Once that's been used up, it's back to the playpen for you.  That's all the cool, strong _men_ you try to emulate care about.  You are but a mere child in their eyes, and that isn't even the whole truth."

For the first time since they had met the young detective, they saw him crack.  Shirogane took a step back, an uncharacteristic, trembling noise escaping from him.

"S-stop…!"

"'Shirogane Naoto'; that's such a manly name, isn't it?" the Shadow sneered, stalking after the real Shirogane, even as he tried to back away from him.  "But a name doesn't change the truth; it doesn't cross the barrier between sexes.

"How could you become an ideal man, when you were never a man to begin with?!"

Silence hung thick in the air as the other three humans in the room tried to process that.  Shirogane took a nervous glance back at them, and Adachi near kicked himself.  Some detective he was; he really should have seen this sooner.  The way he carried himself, the slight curve to his body, the thinness in his face and fingers; Adachi was so busy being pissed off at what a pain in the ass the kid was, he failed to piece together the obvious signs.  He smacked a hand over his face at his own stupidity, as the shock finally wore off of Saki and Yukiko.

"Y-you’re a girl?" the former stammered out before she could stop herself, a hand going to her mouth a moment later.  Shirogane flinched, looking extremely uncomfortable for a moment, before he – she – shook herself out of it.

"This changes nothing," she replied, though her voice wavered from that forced maturity she had been using until now, hints of femininity showing through.

"Oh, but it changes everything," the Shadow pressed.  "You can't be accepted into this society as a woman, and no one will recognize you as a man.  That's why I'm giving this gift to you!"

The lab table suddenly came to life behind the Shadow, mechanical arms springing up and grabbing Shirogane.  She let out a scream as she was lifted up into the air, her legs flailing as she fought against the iron grip that held her.

"This operation will change your life forever!" the Shadow proclaimed, yellow eyes wild as he held his arms up toward her.  She sailed over his head and slammed onto the table, where metal cuffs snapped down around her.  "It's the least I could do for myself!"

"No!" she cried out, struggling as hard as she could.  "This isn't me!  You're not like me at all!"

Considering how quickly things got bad, Adachi was not even going to try and stop Shirogane from letting out the Words of Pain.  The Shadow was letting out a cackle that would rival any TV show mad scientist, the darkness engulfing him like it had the others before.  Once the darkness blasted out around from him, the creature revealed was much smaller than the previous ones, and a mishmash of a dark-faced Shirogane and a cyborg.  It hovered up in the air on jet boots, stabilized by a set of plane wings on his back, and there was a gun in each hand, both of which looked more like something a little kid would use to play sci-fi games with than a functional weapon.

Adachi shot forward first, Saki following just behind with Yukiko hanging behind for support.

 _"I am a shadow… the true self…"_ Shirogane's Shadow declared, his voice coming out almost robotic, with very little emotion in it, unlike previously.  He leveled one of his guns on them, yellow eyes completely blank.  "This is no concern of yours.  Leave, unless you want your forms changed as well!"

He fired the gun at them, waves of some kind of energy shooting out at the three of them.  They scattered immediately to avoid it, with Saki calling on Tsunade as soon as she was able to safely stop.  Wind shot up around the Shadow, but he suddenly _was not there,_ zipping away so fast that it was almost like he teleported.

"Damn, he's fast!" Saki shouted.

"Try to corner him!" Adachi shouted over to her, calling on Izanagi.  His Persona rushed forward to do just that, but Izanagi was slower than Tsunade, and could barely keep up with the Shadow as he zipped around over their head.

Konohana-Sakuya appeared in the next moment, fire springing up in the air around the Shadow.  Again, it bobbed and weaved through the flames, like they were just a minor inconvenience.  That ended up working against him, however, as the trail of flames led him right into Izanagi, who smacked him down with the flat of his sword.  The Shadow spiraled, crashing into the ground in a heap.

"Get him!" Saki shouted.

All three of them and their Personae pounced on the downed Shadow, everyone trying to get a stab in at once.  An electronic screech of rage escaped from the cyborg, and he shot straight up into the air, knocking them all off.

"That will never do; patients must lie still for me to drill proper holes into them!"

He leveled one of his guns at Izanagi, firing it point blank at the Persona's chest.  A strange sort of halo engulfed him, and Adachi fell over in agony, clutching at his chest as his Persona began to deteriorate.  Yukiko let out a shout, and the pain stopped as the Shadow burst into flames.  The robot let out another screech, zipping away, leaving a trail of fire behind.

Adachi felt Saki at his side in the next moment, and he trembled as he tried to force himself back up to his feet.  His everything hurt, parts of him he did not even know he had hurt; why did this shit always have to happen to him?

"M'alright," he grunted, waving vaguely at the Shadow.  "Worry about 'm."

The Shadow had looped back around, still on fire as it barreled down on them.  Tsunade shot forward to intercept him, blades of wind slashing out at him.  Slowed down from the damage he had sustained and from being on fire, he was hit right in the face and sent spiraling out of control to smack into a wall.  The Shadow let out an electronic growl, one of the rocket feet continually misfiring as he tried to get himself back in the air.

"You… what right do you have to try and stop me?!" the cyborg bellowed, his guns leveled on the three of them and firing without care as to whether he hit them or not.

Adachi managed to get himself together enough to call on his weakened Persona, a blast of lightning shooting out from Izanagi.  It did not seem to do much damage, but it did hit one of the Shadow's hands, knocking the gun away, where it dissolved into darkness before it even hit the ground.  Taking advantage of the temporary distraction, Saki sent Tsunade after the cyborg, hitting it in the face before unleashing a cyclone around it.  With one rocket boot already misfiring, the Shadow was caught in it easily, allowing Yukiko and her Persona to set the entire tornado aflame.

Eventually the flames and the wind died, and a metallic _clunk_ accompanied the Shadow falling to the ground in defeat.  Adachi was fumbling to his feet, ignoring it as it turned back to its previous form as he shambled over to the lab table.  Shirogane was out cold, fainted it seemed like, and she still had not woken up as he managed to get his shaking fingers to undo her binds.  He paused, glancing back to the other girls; oh man, they were going to yell at him for this, but he did not care. He had his butt kicked far too much in this secret base to treat her differently just because he knew she was a chick now.  His hand came up, and just as expected Saki and Yukiko let out a shout as he smacked her across the face.

She came out of it almost immediately, blinking in surprise as she raised a hand to her reddening cheek in confusion.  Her eyes settled on him in the next moment, like she was trying to figure out why he was there.

"Adachi-san…?"

The last few minutes seemed to come back to Shirogane all at once, and she bolted upright, nearly knocking Adachi in the head.  Her eyes fell on her Shadow, before she paused, like she wanted to curl up on herself.

"…so you heard everything," she said softly.

"Yeah," Adachi replied, "think I get it too.  You wanted to be a detective, but there was no way a woman would be getting into the department."

Shirogane gave a small nod.  "I am the fifth generation of my family; the Shirogane name is well known for its prowess in criminal cases.  When my parents died when I was young, my grandfather took me in.  I was inept in associating with others, so I was often in his study reading the materials there.  It didn't take long for my natural talents to make themselves known after that."

She turned to him, her expression somber.  "My parents were proud of their job, as was my grandfather.  I had no issue with inheriting such an occupation myself, and my grandfather made certain to make that happen.  Unfortunately, as you yourself displayed, not many will take a child seriously, and although one day I will become an adult, I could never be truly accepted, because I would never be a man."

"Do you not like being a girl?" Yukiko asked, her voice gentle.

Shirogane shook her head.  "It's not that… my sex does not fit my ideal image of a detective," she replied.  "Besides, I do not need to give the department another reason to toss me aside."

"Well, you weren't exactly endearing yourself to anyone," Adachi pointed out, before waving toward her Shadow.  "'Sides, I think you already know what the problem is here."

Shirogane looked toward her Shadow again, before she gave a nod, slipping off the surgical table.  She stood before him, a hand on her hip, though she let it drop with a sigh after a moment.

"I'm sorry I ignored you," she apologized.  "But you are me, and I am you.  You have always been a part of me.  What I must strive for is not to be a man, but to accept myself."

The Shadow smiled at that, looking much like a little child himself.  "I want to be a cool, hardboiled detective when I grow up!"

He disappeared into a flurry of blue sparkles then, forming into a small, winged Persona with a sword nearly bigger than he was, before turning into a card.  This one had a wheel on it, and it descended down to join with Shirogane again.  She stared at her hands, bewildered.

"So, this is the power you all… have…"

She trailed off, wavering unsteadily on her feet, before collapsing to her knees.  Saki and Yukiko were at her side almost immediately, Adachi and Teddie (finally emerging from his hiding spot) joined them a moment later.  She glanced up at the four of them, trying to at least pretend she was fine.

"I'm… just a little tired, that's all," she insisted.

"Tired.  Right," Adachi replied, bending down in front of her.  Saki got what he was trying to do, and she helped drape Shirogane over his shoulders.  The child detective let out a faint sound of protest, but ended up clinging to him anyway as he stood up, easily carrying her on his back despite how beat up he was.

They had made it out into the hall, when he heard a faint, "Thank you, Adachi-san," in his ear.  He paused at that, feeling like something was tingling in the back of his head, a warm feeling trying to break through… but nothing happened, and he let out a sigh instead.

Why did he always have to get dragged into this crap…?

~.oOOo.~

Adachi watched the rain driving itself into the ground from the hospital window, rubbing his eyes with a tired hand.  He still felt drained, but he had a feeling a good night's sleep would help with that.  He was pretty sure he had the day off tomorrow; he was probably going to spend the majority of it sleeping and drinking.  To hell with teenagers and their teenaged problems for one day; he needed a day, just _one day_ where he could be himself and not give a damn.

"Oh, you're here again."

He let out a faint noise at the vaguely familiar voice, and turned to see a nurse behind him.  It took him a moment to place her, but he realized she had been present the last few times he had brought someone to the hospital.

"Oh… hey, yeah," he replied, reaching back to rub at his neck.  "Detective's work is never done, 'ya know?"

"Especially in such a dangerous time, I imagine," she replied, a small smile touching her lips.  It might have seemed innocent to just about anyone else, but those eyes of hers… Adachi felt like he was wearing far too little with the way she was looking at him.  "Uehara Sayoko."

"Adachi Tohru," he replied, offering her his hand.  She accepted it delicately, that look never leaving her face.  He swallowed, though if she noticed how uncomfortable he was getting, she did not comment.

"Well then, detective," she murmured.  "I need to tend to the patient.  Good luck."

She disappeared into Shirogane's room at that, and Adachi let out a breath as the door closed, feeling even more drained than he was already.  He must have looked like an idiot; he could totally talk to a woman like that normally… maybe… but he was just too damn _tired—_

As if fate wanted to spite him, his cell phone went off.  Adachi let out a sigh, grabbing the phone.

"Ada—"

_"Adachi!  Where the hell are you!?"_

Dojima's voice came bellowing out of the phone so loudly he had to jerk his head away.

"S-sir, Shirogane-kun was kidnapped, and—"

 _"No time for that!"_ Dojima cut him off.  _"Get your ass back to the station!  Now!"_

Adachi let out a sigh as the line went dead; why did he get the feeling his day off had just been revoked?


	14. Chapter Eleven – Catch Me If You Can

For the fourth time since arriving in Inaba, Adachi found himself on the ground outside a building, staring up as crews worked to get a dead body off a telephone pole.

The victim this time was Ebihara Ai, a local rich kid from new money.  Even with the murders already, her death could have easily been attributed to her family's millions, and the arrangement of her body could have easily just been a copycat trying to get attention.  Adachi knew before they even got close that was not going to be the case, however; there was no way a normal human being could get to this pole without some kind of assistance and have no one notice, even in the dead of night.  As horrible as a copycat would have been, he almost wished that had been the case.

At least that way, he could say the printout in his hand was just someone trying to be cute and not that the murderer was evolving his crimes.

> a little piggy hangs from on high tonight  
> coins dangling from outstretched hands  
> no one could catch her  
> except me of course

"What does this even mean?" Adachi found himself asking as he looked down at the paper again, reading it over for what had to be the millionth time.  Dojima glanced over at him from his position next to him, like the answer should have been obvious, before he shook his head.

"Right, you wouldn't know, not being local," he muttered under his breath.  Adachi tried to resist the urge to roll his eyes; how could he forget that?  "Before her family struck it rich, Ebihara used to be a much bigger girl.  She slimmed out by high school, and most kids her age forgot about how she used to look like."

"And she wouldn't be in a rush to tell anyone, which means our killer is getting to really know his victims now," Adachi muttered, wanting to swear.  He did not want to think about the implications; that whatever psychopath they were looking for could blend in so well that he had time to know his victims' personal lives before throwing them into the television.  On top of it, he was getting ridiculously cocky, if he thought that he could just send the police messages like this.

"You said Shirogane was kidnapped before?" Dojima continued, making Adachi jump.

"A-ah… yeah, sh—er… h-he's at the hospital recovering now."

Dojima raised an eyebrow at his fumbling speech, though Adachi tried to brush it off with a nervous laugh.  He doubted Shirogane would appreciate him outing her while she was unconscious in the hospital and all that…

"Ah, I should get this to he— _him_ right away; maybe he'll be able to make sense of it… eh heh…"

Dojima's suspicious eyes bore into the back of his head as he turned around quickly, ready to bolt off to the bus stop and get back to the hospital.  Adachi's skin was still crawling when he made it down the street and out of his partner's sight, though he still came to a stop, letting out a shaky breath.  He used to be better at shading and skipping around the truth than this; why was he having so much damn trouble all of a sudden?

~.oOOo.~

The fact that it was nearly six in the morning did not keep Shirogane from pulling herself awake to look at the mysterious message Adachi had.  She read it over and over again to herself, her mouth pressing into a tired line, before she finally looked up.

"You said this post was reported on a message board?"

"Yeah, that's what Dojima-san told me," he replied.  "One of those public, 'post what's on your mind' things.  The moderator saw the IP address pointed to Inaba, and he contacted the police.  He didn't have the software to get more accurate than that."

"It's sloppy and immature," she pointed out, rubbing her fingers over the printout.  "He's trying to be creative and failing at it; it's likely this is the first time he's tried leaving a message to get attention like this.  He likely keeps to himself, and doesn't even try to associate with other people.  He's noticing that his work is getting all this media coverage, and he wants his hand in it to be known without exposing himself…"

Shirogane trailed off, leaning back tiredly on the bed.  "This only confirms my suspicions," she continued.  "Our murderer is still in school, likely high school."

Adachi raised an eyebrow at that; well, that explained why he saw a high school student running full tilt away from her then.  Who knew how many other kids she touched with her ice cold questioning before she got tossed into the TV herself?  Any one of them could be the killer… or not at all; kids talked, after all, and the real killer could have overheard someone complaining about being drilled by a little kid detective.

"So we still got nothing," he found himself saying out loud.

Shirogane tossed him an annoyed look, before she relented.  "…so it would seem," she replied.  "If he's posting like this, however, then it means he will again.  We'll need to watch the message boards and see if we can triangulate his location."

"Dunno if our department has the software for that," Adachi admitted.  A department in Tokyo, it would be no question; they would have the location and the kid tracked down in no time.  Out in the boonies?  He was not even sure if they had a computer crimes division.

"I do."

"Of course you do."

He could never have an excuse to back off this crazy case, could he?  Adachi let out a sigh, dragging himself up to his feet and taking the print out from her.  She glanced up at him, a bit of a frown on her face.  For a moment, it looked like she was going to question his attitude, but she dismissed it as he started speaking again.

"Well, I guess I gotta get back to the station.  See if we have the same old ME's report," he said.  Her expression turned curious, and she tilted her head.

"Haven't you slept yet?"

Adachi let out a bitter sounding laugh.  "What's sleep?"

~.oOOo.~

For a day at least, it seemed like life had returned to something resembling normal, despite the heavy tension in the air at school.  Saki found herself drifting through the hours in class, absently answering questions that she was not actually paying attention to and mingling around with others.  Still, it was hard to miss students giving each other uncertain glances in the hallways, wondering who would be the next to die… or who among them was doing the killing.

She let out a tired noise as she descended the steps to get to her locker, feeling at once stressed out and full of energy at the same time.  She wanted to do something; she needed to get out and work for something that was not her job at Junes.  The thought crossed her mind to sneak into the police station and go training in the TV, just as someone with dark hair bumped into her.

"Sorry," he mumbled faintly, hurrying up the stairs to where someone else was waiting for him, but she did not pay much attention.  Her focus was drawn to the lockers, where a familiar blue-haired detective was fiddling with a door, peering inside.

"Naoto?" she asked, hesitating on the honorific.  What would she prefer, now that they knew her secret?  Saki noticed then that she was wearing the boy's uniform, and answered herself.  "Naoto-kun?"

Naoto turned to look at her, raising an eyebrow, before a faint smile came to her face.  "Konishi-senpai; good afternoon."

Saki walked over to her, glancing around as she saw people pass, whispering about the Detective Princess.  She flinched at that, glancing over to see how Naoto would respond to that, but she merely let out a sigh.

"Well, that did not take long," she said.  "Though, I suppose I should have expected as much, from such a small town."

"I'm sorry," Saki replied, but Naoto just shook her head.

"No, it's fine," she assured her.  "I need to accept this part of myself."

A faint smile came to Saki's face, before she leaned against the lockers.  "So you're joining us at school?"

Naoto gave a nod at that.  "Yes; I have decided to stay for an extended period of time here in Inaba," she replied, before dropping her voice.  "We're fairly certain the culprit is a student in this school.  Having someone officially part of this investigation here will aid us."

Saki glanced away, watching a huddle of girls walking past, some of them glancing nervously as a guy passed them by.

"You're not the only one that's figured that out," she noted, shaking her head.  "I'm not used to seeing the school like this."

Naoto gave a nod, before her cell phone went off.  She went for it, just as Saki's cell phone went off; the two of them exchanged glances, and it was clear this was going to be something about the investigation.  The child detective turned away as she took hers, while Saki tried to look completely casual as she answered.

"Hello?"

"Hey, Shirogane-kun is at the school right now," Adachi's voice came over the phone in a hushed whisper.  He had to be right in the middle of the station; he sounded like he was going to get busted any second.  "Have you met up with hi—her yet?"

Saki frowned at the phone; she could guess how rumor of Naoto's real gender got around so fast.

"Yeah, why?"

"We've got a hit," he continued, and Saki began to ask what that was supposed to mean, but he was still speaking before she could get a word out.  "Can't explain right now, but I need you guys to start checking the computers in the school.  Shirogane can get you—"

He let out a squeak, before quickly hanging up the phone.  Saki pulled the phone away from her ear, staring at it like it had suddenly sprouted legs.  After a moment, she shook her head, snapping it closed as Naoto just finished her phone call, looking anxious.  She gave a nod, before starting into the school, Saki following close behind.

"The murderer is leaving messages on public message boards," she explained softly.  "My software just got a hit on a new message.  Do you know how to check a computer's IP address?"

Saki gave a nod, following Naoto up to the computer lab as fast as they could.  The detective reached it first, clearly trying very hard not to throw the door open dramatically.  Only one other person was in the room; a girl about Yukiko's age, and she glanced up at them as they entered with disinterest, before going back to what she was looking at.

Naoto kept her eyes on the girl, going over to the desk at the front of the room and grabbing a sheet of paper, quickly jotting down a series of numbers, before handing it off to Saki.  She glanced down at the numbers, biting her lip, before looking back to Naoto.  The detective nodded toward the computers in the back of the room, before going over to the girl sitting at the computer.

"Hi there," she began, trying to force friendliness into her voice (and failing miserably), as Saki forced herself to walk casually toward the back.  She grabbed the mouse to the first computer, looking to see if the IP address matched what Naoto wrote down.  "Have you seen anyone else here?"

"Not really," the girl replied distantly, not even looking up at Naoto.  She did not seem to know what to do in light of the girl's disinterest, and Naoto near fumbled for a moment, taking a breath and thinking about her response.

"May I check your computer?"

That seemed to be the wrong response, as the girl's eyes shot to her immediately, looking highly annoyed.

"What for?"

Naoto twitched slightly; no, she was not going to resort to being cold.  She could handle this like any other teenager.  Never mind that this was not a situation a normal teenager would be in.

"I need to check the IP address.  Someone might have sent something from here."

"The what?"

For a moment, Naoto looked flabbergasted, not sure how to explain to someone that used computers every day what something so essential as an IP address was.  Thankfully, Saki called for her in the next moment, and she happily left the side of the snobby girl in favor of going to the back of the room.  She knew there was a problem as soon as she got in sight of the screen, however; it was completely black, except for a warning that "kernell32.dll" was missing from the file system.  Saki was fiddling with her phone, casting a worried glance as she came to her side.

"This computer was frozen with a message left on it," she explained.  "I tried to get it to restart to see if I could confirm the address, but this happened.  I took a photo…"

She trailed off, showing her the snapshot of the computer, with a very clear message taunting them from Notepad.

> catch me if you can

~.oOOo.~

Adachi nearly cried when he fell onto his bed that night after work, feeling every bit of the ache and weariness from staying up for more than twenty-four hours pulling at every muscle in his body.  He wanted to just drop off to sleep, but his body was also demanding he get up and feed it, and after what felt like a millennium of just laying there like a fish out of water, he managed to snatch up the last stretches of energy he had to get up and do just that.

He had some cabbage and noodles boiling in a pot, before he finally decided to plug in his television; with everything happening on the Midnight Channel and the murder case, he did not even want to look at the damn thing.  Tonight, however, the silence of the apartment was too much for him, and having something playing in the background that did not involve whiny teenagers was something he desperately needed.

If only he were so lucky; just as he turned back to tend to what he called cooking, a narrator's voice came over the TV speakers.

 _"Young men recklessly riding their motorcycles, disturbing the peace of a quiet rural town…"_ the reporter began, sounding way too over dramatic for a report about motorcycle gangs.  _"Our special report took a turn toward violence when one of the apparent leaders attacked the camera crew!"_

Adachi leaned back toward the TV, curious in spite himself, just in time to see some kid wearing his high school jacket like some cheap cape.  The reporting crew tried to blur his face, but it was such a poor job that anyone that actually knew the kid could probably tell who it was.

_"The hell are you punks doing here!?  This ain't a show!"_

Adachi let out a sigh as the picture started jerking around from the kid lashing out at the camera crew, shaking his head.  Great, just great; this probably meant this kid—

He could not even finish the thought before his cell phone rang, and he answered it, not even bothering to see who it was.

"No."

A grunt came from the other side of the line, as if the person had not expected him to shoot her down so quickly.

"What do you mean, 'no'?" Saki shot back once she recovered.  "After a report like that, don't you think the murderer would take that as a challenge?"

"Don't care.  I just care about dinner right now."

There was an intense silence on the other end of the line, and for a moment Adachi thought she hung up in disgust.  She finally inhaled sharply, her voice sounding cold as she responded:

"I guess there isn't much you care about."

There was a loud bang on the other end of the line before she hung up, and Adachi ended up staring at his phone with an eyebrow raised.  Hunh… maybe he overdid it that time.

~.oOOo.~

Dojima was in a particularly grumbling mood the next morning when Adachi came into work; so much so that setting the box of donuts he got for breakfast that morning between their desks felt more like a peace offering than a meal.  His eyes shot up to him immediately and Adachi near squeaked, jumping back and waiting for the snapping.  Instead of yelling at him, however, Dojima just reached into the box and snapped a pastry, shoving it into his mouth.  He let out a breath he did not even realize he was holding, before flopping into his usual oversized desk chair, only to see that he already had work waiting for him.

"Killer left another message," Dojima said distractedly, busy looking over his own paperwork.  Adachi's gaze went glumly down to the folder before him, flipping it open to see a printout before him.

> Spinning round and round.  
> Not safe to spin so much.  
> Stop the spinning.  
> Save the leader.  
> Save them all.

Adachi's mouth creased into a frown as he read the message over again; this looked nothing like the previous messages.  For one, there was actual punctuation, for another, the killer was very obvious in his intent to kill.  "Saving" had nothing to do with killing, last he checked, nor was there any mention of anyone being left to hang.

"…we're looking for two guys," he muttered under his breath, and a _snap_ came from across the desk a moment later, making him jump.  Dojima did _not_ look like he had wanted to hear that, and Adachi could not help but cringe.

"A-ah… well, maybe I'm wrong?" he suggested, hoping that it would not lead to him being glared at.

No such luck.

"Usual patrols today," Dojima bit out.  "Keep an eye on the Konishi girl at Junes; her brother was already a victim, last thing we need to give their family is another kid to bury."

Adachi let out a sigh, mumbling a dejected sounding confirmation; great, he _so_ wanted to be around Saki after how dismissive he had been last night.

As he expected, Saki was just as happy to see him as he was to see her.  She nearly completely ignored his presence as he walked up to the stand she was manning at the food court, and for a moment, Adachi had no idea what he was supposed to do.  He fumbled for a moment, before going for his wallet and checking for the meager amount of cash he had on him.  Maybe he could buy something?  Would that make her feel better?

He plastered the best fake smile he could on his face, leaning a bit inside the booth.  "H-hey, you've got steak now?  Can I get a plate?"

The death glare she tossed him made him feel like he had been steak-ed through the heart.  He gulped, hesitantly dropping his money on the counter, slowly backing away before she did something, like spit at him.  She worked quickly, fixing up the meal he ordered and for a moment it seemed like everything would be all well and good – the scowl had come off her face and everything!  That all changed when she finished his order, and she delivered the plate to the counter with the deadliest passive aggressive smile he had ever seen on a woman's face.

"Thank you, sir," she said, far too sweetly.  "Oh, and we serve our steak with extra hot sauce."

She grabbed a bottle… and then proceeded to squeeze so much hot sauce on the piece of meat that it looked like it was oozing blood.  Adachi gulped as the plate was shoved toward him, and he hesitantly took it, afraid to even touch the counter, least that try to bite him too.

He was still scraping hot sauce off his meal by the time Saki came out of the booth for her break.  She plopped down on the seat next to him, looking extraordinarily proud of herself and ignoring the death glare he was giving her.

"So I was ordered to keep an eye on you today," he grumbled at her, poking bitterly at his steak.  She let out a faint sound at that, the smug expression dropping from her face.

"The murderer left another message, didn't he?" she asked, to which, he just nodded.  "Have you figured out who he's talking about?"

Adachi shook his head.  "No idea, but from the tone of the message, it was left by a different person."

Saki sat up straight in her seat, eyes widening slightly.  "You…" she began, before dropping her voice.  "You think there's two killers?"

Adachi gave the barest of nods, and Saki turned away, looking like she was going to be sick.  He glanced at her, his face screwing up slightly, before he decided to change the topic.

"So, have you seen Shirogane-kun and Yukiko today?" he asked, finally feeling brave enough to try some of his steak.

Saki gave a faint nod.  "Yeah; they're looking out for Tatsumi Kanji.  Yukiko-chan says she knows him from when they were in grade school.  There are rumors going around the school saying that he's the leader of some motorcycle gang, but she said that doesn't sound like him."

"So he's probably going to be on TV tonight," Adachi muttered, flinching at how spicy the hot sauce made his steak, despite his best efforts.  "It's supposed to rain."

"Oh, so you're going to care now?" Saki asked, her voice dripping with venom.  He shot her an irritable look, stabbing his steak with his fork and trying not to imagine doing the same thing to her.

"You work my job for more than twenty-four hours and see how chipper you are when you finally get to sleep," he grumbled at her, just as Shirogane and Yukiko entered the food court.  The former had the look of a woman that had just had to deal with far too much than any woman had any right to deal with, while the later looked like she was trying to remember what laughing was supposed to sound like.

"What happened?" Saki asked as they sat down.

Naoto pursed her lips into a straight line.  "We had an… entertaining conversation with Tatsumi-kun."

"He would only answer questions from Naoto-kun," Yukiko replied.  "I may as well not have been standing there."

"He was also exceptionally uncomfortable about the whole process," the detective continued.  "When I told him he was behaving strangely, he started spouting gibberish and refused to say anything more."

Adachi glanced at Yukiko, and then at Shirogane, then back to Yukiko.  Oh, he could figure out why a guy would start spouting gibberish like she described, but he would have thought it would be directed more toward the one that actually _looked_ like a woman…  He crammed a piece of steak in his mouth in an effort to keep himself from actually _asking_ the question he wanted to ask: that being, if they were sure Tatsumi knew he was speaking to a _girl._

"So we don't know if he's being followed at all or not, do we?" Saki asked, sounding disappointed.  "We can't just keep waiting until people get kidnapped before we do anything; there's got to be some way we can get an edge on the murderer."

"We have too little information at the moment," Adachi replied, swallowing his steak.  "All we know for sure is it's someone in the high school; that's it.  That's not a lot to go on."

"You have off work tomorrow, right, Senpai?" Yukiko asked, to which Saki gave a nod.  "Perhaps we'll have better luck if all four of us try to keep an eye on Kanji."

Adachi just shoved another piece of too spicy steak into his mouth; why did the suggestions always have to go to her?  Did anyone give a shit on how he felt about this crap?  No, clearly not, seeing as they were all nodding in agreement without getting his input.

Why the hell did he have to put up with this shit?

~.oOOo.~

Of course, trying to keep an eye on Kanji the next day proved just as ridiculous as Adachi was expecting.

After the four of them confirmed that they had definitely seen the teenaged punk on the television the night before, they paired off.  Saki and Yukiko went off to keep an eye on Tatsumi Textiles, the traditional shop that Kanji's family had owned for generations.  That left Adachi and Naoto with the task of actually tailing the teen, something that he much rather would have done without.  Sure, it was obvious Shirogane knew what she was doing, and maybe he might have enjoyed actually getting to be on a stake out if it was not for the setting.

He would have preferred to do something like this in his beat up clunker, but Shirogane quickly pointed out that Kanji would be able to hear them coming long before they got close enough.  The car had steadily been fairing worse over the months since he had been in Inaba, and driving it sounded more like he was driving a tank than a car.  Even if she was right, it still stung, and hiding around corners and light posts was not hardly as glamorous as stalking someone around in a vehicle.  Besides, it did not look like Kanji was doing anything particularly exciting; he went from school to the shopping district, and from the look of things it seemed like he was going to stop at Marukyu for some tofu.

Finally, as the punk got to the store, Adachi let out a frustrated sigh.

"Are we done here yet?"

Shirogane glanced up at him, a bit of a sour expression on her face.  "Don't you realize we could find the murderer this way?"

"One of them, maybe," Adachi grumbled.  "But we're bein' kinda obvious here."

That ice cold look from before confronting her Shadow was back on her face, and she straightened herself out, placing a hand on her hip.

"Adachi-san," she began, "I don't think you realize the seriousness of this situation.  This is something only we can deal with.  Anyone else in the police department would be unable to understand what was going on, unless they ended up in the televisions themselves."

Was he seriously being lectured by someone roughly half his age and height?  Adachi had to resist the urge to groan at this stupidity.

"You really can't blame me, 'ya know?" he said, never mind what he _wanted_ to say.  "I mean… a guy can only suspend his disbelief so far."

Shirogane looked at him like he had just spawned another head.  "What do you mean?  You were one of the first people to enter the other world.  You were the one to awaken your Persona first.  You cannot tell me that you don't believe in anything that has happened so far."

"I believe that it's crazy," Adachi replied, rolling his eyes.  "But really, what do you expect?  I'm an adult; crap like this is left for little kids living in their own little fantasy world.  I mean, it's obvious when we go chasing after someone, and some ridiculous set up spawns in that place because of them."

He knew he was saying the wrong thing before it even finished leaving his mouth, because Shirogane's expression suddenly turned frigid.  For a moment, he felt like he heard something snap just on the fringes of his hearing, but he did not get a chance to wonder what it was.  She pulled her cap low over her head to hide her expression, but her voice still came out as a seething hiss.

"It must be easy for you, living like you're not responsible for anything that happens around you, even when your responsibility for it is staring you in the face," she said, icicles hanging off her words.  "It's amazing you've made it through your life thus far."

Adachi's face screwed up into a bitter frown, and he opened his mouth to retaliate, to ask why the hell he should take responsibility for things that were not his problem, when a shadow suddenly fell over them both.  He paused, his expression falling as he looked up… and up… and up… and wow, that Tatsumi kid was a lot taller up close than what he looked like from far away.  The scowl on the kid's face was not helping his image any either, not that any expression would have helped his image much.

"Th' hell do you think you're doing?"Kanji demanded, though bellowed might have been a more accurate description.  Adachi yelped, backing away as Shirogane looked up at him in surprise.  She tried to say something, but Kanji stepped forward, putting himself between her and Adachi and making the older detective jump back.

"You got a problem with him or somethin'!?" he snapped at him, and Adachi had choice but to peal out of there before he got punched.

He did not stop running until he was on the other side of the gas station, bending over and clutching at his knees.  That was it, he was done; not even the satisfaction of having called it in regards to Kanji and Shirogane's gender could make him happy right now.

Let the big dumb oaf get kidnapped; he had _enough_ with this shit.


	15. Interlude

I didn't want to watch the TV that night. I didn't want to see what the hell would happen to that big dumb blonde moron.

I didn't want to, but I did it anyway.

Boy did I regret it.

As soon as the clock clicked over to midnight, the TV snapped on, that same yellow static appearing that I was getting used to. Once it cleared, the image was super sharp, despite the steaming atmosphere it was showing. Through that steam though, I could see wooden walls, baths, and towels hanging by them. I knew this was going to be hideous even before the big ape appeared on the screen, wearing nothing but a… oh god, just a fundoshi.

No.

Just no.

_No._

"Hel _lo,_ dear viewers!" Kanji's voice wailed over my TV speakers, making my ears bleed. "It's time for 'Bad, Bad Bathhouse'!"

No.

"Tonight, I'll introduce a superb site for those searching for sublime love that surpasses the separation of the sexes!"

Nope.

"I'm your host, Tatsumi Kanji, serving you this scandalously special sneak-in report!"

Hell no.

"Goodness gracious, just imagine the things that might happen to me in there! Ooooh!"

Oh what the fuck, _no._

"Well then, let's get this show on the road! Tootaloo!"

The kid on the screen turned around, and that was way too much male ass crack than what I needed to see in my lifetime. It was a moment later before the TV snapped off, but not before I got the displeasure of seeing Kanji's cheeks wiggling as he ran away from the camera. I just stood there, staring dumbly at my TV; I almost didn't even hear my phone going off. I grabbed it once my mind snapped out of it, though I still couldn't unsee those wiggling ass cheeks.

"Forget it."

The person on the other end stammered for a moment, before shooting back at him, "Adachi-san, I know what we just saw was… disturbing…"

It was Naoto; at the time, I thought for sure it would have been Saki.

"There is no way you're getting me in the TV for this one. I like my manhood where it is."

_"Adachi-san."_

"No. Way."


	16. Chapter Twelve – We Lost Something Important Today...

Adachi did not know why he bothered trying to tell a woman "no"; somehow, someway, they always managed to get him to do what they wanted him to do.  For instance, he found himself standing outside a wooden bathhouse next to a clueless Teddie, silky banners proclaiming masculinity fluttering from the steam wafting out from the inside.  Some kind of sensual, _sexy_ music could be heard loud and clear from where they were standing, and Adachi wanted to _squirm_ at how uncomfortable the mere sight of everything was making him.

"I renew my objections to this," he stated, sulking, looking like he wanted to be _anywhere_ else.  Hell, he would take the lab they had been in previously to this, he really would!

"Noted," Shirogane replied blandly, barely paying any attention to him.  She moved to step forward, and an obscene _moan_ echoed out from deep within the bathhouse, so much so that it made Adachi's hair stand on end.

 _"C'mere, pussycat,"_ a deep, sexy sounding voice came.

 _"O-oh my!"_ a feminine male voice responded.  _"Such muscles…!"_

_"Don't worry.  I'll take good care of you…"_

That moaning sound came again, and the five of them stood there in dumbstruck silence, before…

"I'm out," Adachi declared, turning around to leave.  He was grabbed instantly by Yukiko and Saki, and a high pitched, dog-like whine escaped from his mouth as he was dragged inside.  They did not let go of him until they were well inside the bathhouse, and even then Adachi just flopped into a useless pile on the floor, wanting to cry.  He could feel his manhood wanting to detach itself from him and run away from all of this in terror _right now._

The girls started ahead a bit, glancing down a three way intersection and conversing on where they should go.  Meanwhile, Teddie remained by Adachi, trying desperately to sniff at the air and not getting anywhere, if the disappointed noises he let out was any indication.  The bear reached up, trying to wipe the sweat from his forehead and only half succeeding.

"M-man, sensei, it's hot in here, hunh…?" he began, trying to be a comforting presence for Adachi.  He knew the bear was trying, but it just… was not helping.  "My fur's gonna end up beary curly from all this heat."

Adachi let out a groan at that, burying his face in his hands.  Meanwhile, the girls finally decided on where they wanted to go, before turning back to them.  Saki rolled her eyes at Adachi still sitting on the floor, going over to stand over him with her arms across her chest.

"Are you just going to sit there all day?" she asked.

"Well, considering my ass is still sore from when you kicked me in here…" Adachi shot back.  Damn chicks would never understand what this kind of thing did to a straight man's psyche.

Saki let out a sigh, pinching the bridge of her nose under her glasses.  "Adachi, you're an adult.  Can't you act like one?"

Adachi did the most adult thing he could by pouting up at her in response, and she threw her hands up in exasperation, going to join the other girls.  Teddie looked back and forth between the two of them, before he finally had to ask:

"Sensei…?  I don't really get what the big deal is…"

Adachi just let out a sigh, planting a hand on his face and pulling it down until it covered his mouth.

"Trust me, you really don't wanna know."

Reluctantly he got to his feet again, and Adachi and Teddie jogged the brief distance to catch up with the girls.  They did not pay either of them much attention as they rejoined them and their group walked together through the thick, steamy hallways.  In complete contrast to Shirogane's lab, Kanji's bathhouse was disturbingly silent, and that along with all the heat made the atmosphere extremely oppressive.  It was not long before they had to stop again, Yukiko desperately pulling at her red sweater in a vain effort to cool off.

"It's too hot here," she comment, and Adachi glanced at her.  Were he anywhere else, he may have appreciated the sight of damp clothes sticking to a girl's curvy body, but with the threat to his manhood a constant presence, he was in no mood to appreciate the sight.

Damn this place.

"Well, the quicker we get that big idiot, the quicker we can get the hell out of here," Adachi grumbled, deciding not to voice the fact that they could just leave said big idiot.  He was pretty sure that would be met with several loud objections.

"Oh, so now you can't wait to get to the bottom of this?" Saki said coldly, and he swore he could see some of the steam freeze as she started in further.  Adachi just glared at her back as the other girls started after her, before being the adult that he was and sticking his tongue out at their backs.

Their footsteps were echoing down the empty wooden halls, and it felt like an eternity was passing them by in that place.  For a moment, Adachi wanted to suggest they got the wrong location, before Teddie suddenly let out an excited noise, sniffing at the air.  He stayed by Adachi's side, turning around and around like a sonar plate, before he suddenly stabbed an arm out straight ahead.

"There!  Up that way!" he exclaimed.  "I think I smell Kanji-kun!"

The girls darted ahead first, while Teddie looked up at Adachi, like he expected some kind of praise for his good nose skills.  The detective let out a sigh, patting the bear on the head before taking off reluctantly after the girls.  Teddie followed just behind, though not before letting his ears wiggle in happiness.

The group burst through the door, catching sight of Kanji with his back to them, still wearing that terrible fundoshi.  Adachi wanted to cover his eyes; he just managed to get the sight of wiggling asscheeks out of his head, and he _really_ did not need it back.

"Tatsumi-kun!" Shirogane exclaimed, starting to approach him.  Adachi wanted to smack a hand to his forehead; really?  She could not tell the difference?

"No, wait!  That's his Shadow!" he shouted at her.

Fortunately that was enough to get her to stop before she got too close.  The Shadow turned around, showing off beady little yellow eyes along with what little was covering the front, and that got Shirogane to take a _massive_ step back.

"Oooooo, thank you for your undivided attention!" Kanji's Shadow cooed, and Adachi really wished he had his phone camera ready to take a picture of the aghast look on Shirogane's face.  "At last I've _penetrated_ the facility!  These images are coming to you live from inside this steamy paradise!"

The Shadow flexed before them, showing off his pecs to the accompaniment of sudden rose petals bursting out of places that Adachi really did not want to think about.  Just then, a gaudy sign appeared above them, declaring the programming to be "MEN ONLY!! Tatsumi Kanji in Rosy Steam Paradise" in big letters, complete with a rainbow pattern.  Shirogane took another step back, distracted by the sign popping up, and missing when the Shadow started sliding a little closer to her.

"Ooo… and it looks like I'm about to have a charming encounter right now!" he cooed, and Adachi got the distinct pleasure of seeing Shirogane near jump out of her skin as the Shadow slid a muscle bound arm around her.  "What do you say?  Why don't you and I have some _daring_ fun together?"

Her mouth worked, but nothing but a squeak managed to come out.  The Shadow leaned down, and Adachi swore he caught him whispering something about her being a pussycat, before he suddenly backed up, hopping in excitement (and there was more ass cheeks wiggling).

"This one's going to be a difficult catch, I know!" he squealed, before crossing his arms behind his head, thrusting his hips out.  "I'll just have to _thrust_ deeper inside this realm of romance!  My body is _tingling_ with excitement!  _Let's get going, dammit!"_

The Shadow took off (with yet more ass cheek wiggling), disappearing into the steam and the fog.  They all stood there for a very long moment, completely dumbstruck by what they had just witnessed and still trying to process it all.  Shirogane was the first of them that could even move, and she let out a cough, pulling her hat down low over her eyes.

"W-well then…" she began, fumbling for something intelligent to say and failing miserably.  Adachi glanced at her, a smirk tugging at his lips.

"You realize he only did that because he thought you were a guy, right?"

Shirogane only tried to pull her hat lower, like her head could disappear inside.

"A-anyway… I can see why Adachi-san is so reluctant about this one," Yukiko spoke up, trying to lighten the mood.

"Oh, good, so we can get out of here now!"

Adachi turned, ready to make a beeline out of the bathhouse, but both Saki and Yukiko grabbed him before he could even get a step going.

"Oh no!" Saki exclaimed, tugging his sweaty clothing hard enough that it popped off of his skin.  "We still need to rescue Kanji."

Adachi let out a desperate whine.  "Oh, _c'mon._ Not even Yukiko's was this bad!"

Yukiko let out an alarmed noise, the color draining from her face.  "M-mine was nothing like this!  Why would you even say that?!"

"Because he's a jerk, Yukiko; just ignore him," Saki tried to assure her, but Yukiko still looked like she wanted to curl up in a corner and cry at being compared to the thing they just witnessed.  A dark cloud almost looked like it was going to start hovering over her head, but it disappeared quickly as the sound of groaning in the distance reached their ears.

For once, they were glad to hear the sound of Shadows approaching.

"Everyone, get ready!" Shirogane warned, bracing herself as the other girls finally let go of Adachi.  He spun around just in time to catch the sight of darkness slithering along the walls before they jumped out, forming into muscle-bound hulks that looked more like American wrestlers in bondage suits.

The sheer amount of wrong in this place was just increasing by the second.

Shirogane pulled her gun without a second thought, firing at the first Shadow and nailing it in the head with accuracy that made Adachi feel inadequate.  That feeling was quickly replaced by irritation as his hand went down to the hilt of his sword.

"Wait, how the hell do you get to use your gun here?!" he demanded.

She tossed him a look over her shoulder, like she could not believe he could not figure it out.  "I pay for my own ammunition!"

Adachi's shoulders sagged at that; he had two terrible things thrown in his face just now.  One, Shirogane was a way better shot than him, and two, she could actually afford to buy things as expensive as ammo.  There was so much not fair with this whole situation, he could not even put it into words.

"Don't just stand there, Adachi!" Saki exclaimed, calling on her Persona.  Wind kicked up around the muscle bound hulks, knocking the majority of them clean off their feet.  Yukiko followed up just behind her, burning the remaining ones to a crisp with Konohana-Sakuya's flames, and leaving Adachi with nothing to do afterwards.  She glanced at him, and though her expression had not changed much, he felt like the air was freezing around him.

"You're being useless.  Maybe you should go home," she commented, moving away from him.  Adachi grit his teeth, trying to ignore the fact that everyone was looking infinitely better than him at the moment.  He let out an irritable noise, finally reluctantly following behind the girls.

It was almost like the creepy Shadow had set off a chain reaction; now no matter where they went, other Shadows were literally coming out of the woodwork to attack them.  There were more of the muscle freaks, but also snakes and flying ravens, and the huge ones that looked like cops.  Most of the time, the girls took care of the monstrous creatures, and Adachi found himself with very little to do except reluctantly follow the three of them deeper inside.

It felt like an eternity passed before they finally made it to the final door in the place, though all five of them hesitated.  Strewn all about the door were bold signs declaring that only men were allowed beyond that point, and even _Teddie,_ who only had a vague idea of what was going on, seemed reluctant to enter.  Finally after a moment, Saki turned to Adachi, grabbing him and propelling him to the front.

"C'mon, you open it," she proclaimed.

"Wh-what?" Adachi squeaked.  "What the hell, why me!?"

"Well, it does say men only," Yukiko answered, her voice sounding like the picture perfect of innocence, though Adachi could _feel_ the malicious air behind it.

"You _are_ the only acceptable male of the group," Shirogane added, mimicking Yukiko's tone, though her maliciousness was _much_ more obvious.

"G-good luck, sensei…?" Teddie squeaked, and Adachi let out a heavy sigh, knowing he was going to be getting _no_ help here.

"Why do I get the feeling I'm about to see something I'll never be able to unsee…" Adachi grumbled, reaching up to push open the door, and…

…he hated it when he was right.

When the doors burst open, they all got a lovely view of the real Kanji's ass.  At least he was still fully clothed, but the fact that he was down on the ground, trying to pin his Shadow's arms up over his head, was doing nothing to help the imagery they had to deal with thus far.  Their group stopped dead at the entrance to the room, varying levels of disturbed expressions on their faces.

"…called it," Adachi finally declared, and that was enough to catch the real Kanji's attention.  He spun around while still holding his Shadow down, glaring at him.

"You?!" he shouted, before his eyes fell to Shirogane.  Even in the steam, it was easy to tell that he was blushing at the sight of her.  "Wh-what are you all doing here!?"

"We're, uh…" Saki began, not sure what to even say.

"Here to save you?" Yukiko finished.

"We think," Adachi deadpanned.

_"You could be a little more enthusiastic about it!"_

With Kanji distracted by yelling at them, his Shadow forced himself up, shoving the real one off.  On one hand, Adachi was grateful to see much less man on man action, on the other, he was not sure he wanted to trade that for jiggling ass cheeks and flower petal spouting nipples.  That was exactly what was happening too as the Shadow began to flex before them, and the detective let out a groan, planting a hand over his eyes in a vain effort to get it to _stop._

"Ooooh, it looks like my steamy encounter is back for more!" the Shadow declared, and Shirogane tried desperately to hide herself behind Adachi.  "Isn't he dreamy?  Isn't he mysterious?  Oh he's so my type I could _burst!"_

Kanji was a healthy shade of red that rivaled Yukiko's sweater, and he fumbled for words, trying desperately not to look at how Shirogane was reacting to all this.

"Sh-shut up!" he finally snapped.  "I-I don't feel that way about him at all!"

"Could you be a little less enthusiastic about that?" Adachi muttered under his breath, only to earn himself a jab in the back from Shirogane.

The Shadow just pouted at that.  "But why shouldn't I like him?  Girls are just a pain," he whined.  "They're so arrogant and self-centered.  They cry when you get angry, and say nasty things behind your back!  They look at me like some freak, just because I like to sew and paint!"

"You what?" Adachi deadpanned again, only to get jabbed in the back by all three girls.

Kanji looked like he was torn between punching his Shadow and punching Adachi, but his Shadow continued to speak, waving a hand dramatically.

"Women always tell me to be more like a man, but what does that even mean?" he asked.  "I much prefer men; they don't say awful things behind my back.  They're _so_ much better!"

Adachi opened his mouth to say something to the effect of being able to say all the awful things Kanji wanted to his face to help him get over that, but the girls jabbed him in the back before he could even get a syllable out.  He half turned to them in irritation; first they drag him here, then they would not even let him get a word in without being punished for it?  There was so much not fair with this whole situation.

Kanji did not even notice that time; more preoccupied with shaking his head then to focus on their antics.  Adachi just knew what was coming up next, and he wanted to say something, he _really_ did, if only so they would not have to bear witness to what was going to happen.

"To hell with that!" Kanji snapped.  "That's not me!  That's not like me at all!"

The Shadow let out what had to be the queerest giggle Adachi had ever had the misfortune of hearing as the darkness started to gather around it, to the point where the wooden walls around them were shaking.

"You can't deny it!  I'm you!"

The energy suddenly spiked and exploded around the Shadow, knocking everyone over in one shot.  The team pulled themselves up just in time to see Kanji's Shadow had changed into a massively huge, muscle bound monstrosity.  The upper half of the Shadow remained, nestled in a bed of roses where the head on the freak should have been, and its two ridiculously huge arms had two sharp looking male symbols looped around them.  It just got worse from there; in addition to the main Shadow, two other muscled monsters had joined it, both grey and white and absolutely _freakish._

 _"I'm out,"_ Adachi declared, but the girls were a wall behind him, refusing to let him through, and not even paying attention to him when he whined about it.

 _"I am a Shadow, the true self!"_ the Shadow bellowed, just like all the others.  "I'm just being true to myself!  That's why I'll just crush anything in my way!"

The Shadow went right for where the real Kanji had fallen first, raising those sharp male symbols over its body.  Shirogane darted forward, grabbing him and trying to tug him away.  Saki covered her, calling on Tsunade to intercept the attack and giving her that much more time.

"These can't be his true feelings," Yukiko objected.  "It sounds nothing like the Kanji I know."

"It can't be," Saki replied.  "It's just his emotions going out of con— _ahh!"_

She was cut off as one of the other Shadows grabbed Tsunade by the leg, tossing her aside like she was trash.  Saki wrapped an arm around herself in pain, focusing her frustration immediately on Adachi.

"Don't just stand there!  Do _something!"_

Did he really have to?  Adachi did not say that out loud, least she throw one of her knives at him.  He called on Izanagi instead, sending the swordsman after the creature that had knocked Tsunade aside.  The Persona raised his sword, but instead of trying to counter the attack, the muscled monstrosity grabbed him in a bear hug instead.

"Ooooh, you sexy thing!" the Shadow exclaimed, and Adachi near blanched.  Oh no; no way was he watching his Persona being sexed by a creepy ass Shadow!  He reached out, trying to call Izanagi back, when a shadow suddenly loomed over him and…

"Ooooo, I could just eat you up!" the other muscled monstrosity exclaimed, reaching down and pinching Adachi's rear end.

That was it.

He was done.

Adachi's eyes rolled back into his head, before he passed out cold on the ground.  Izanagi also disappeared, unable to stay summoned with him unconscious.

"Adachi-san?!" Yukiko exclaimed, actually sounding worried about him.  Konohana-Sakuya appeared at her command, setting the freak on fire.  The only thing it seemed to do was make it laugh, flexing its muscles like she helped him rather than hurt him.

"Forget him, he's useless!" Saki snapped in irritation, darting away as the creature brought its fists down on them.

Meanwhile, Naoto was struggling to keep Kanji covered, lugging the large teenager away from the conflict as best as she could.  She was so much smaller than he was, however, and he was not helping by just laying there, completely dumb struck as to what was going on.  His Shadow was making her life difficult as well, trying _very_ hard to crush the both of them with those huge symbols he was carrying.  Tsunade was doing what she could to guard them, but with the Shadow's two minions as well, it was proving all the Persona could do to keep them off.

Naoto finally let out a frustrated noise, leaving Kanji on the ground as she stood up straight over him, reaching a finger out as she called on her Arcana card.

_"Come, Sukuna-Hikona!"_

Her small Persona appeared at her command, zipping through the chaos of battle to strike out at the two minions.  They let out high pitched shrieks that sounded less like pain and more like pleasure, before being knocked over.  Saki and Tsunade followed up right behind him, the Persona's wind knocking the bruisers into the wall where they let out cries of ecstasy before exploding into bursts of darkness.

"You brutes!" Shadow Kanji exclaimed, looping his symbols around his arms again, before lightning shot out at all of them.  Sukuna-Hikona was hit point blank, knocking Naoto over on top of Kanji.  "Stay out of my way!  What's wrong with acting however I feel like?!  I know you all thought I was 'weird' deep down!  You don't accept me at all!"

The lightning came again, and Saki let out a scream as she was hit, falling over in pain.  Yukiko ran to defend her until she could get back on her feet, Konohana-Sakuya letting loose on the Shadow with her flames.

Naoto, meanwhile, struggled to get back on her feet, and her squirming around on top of Kanji was enough to get him to snap out of his shock.  His face turned beet red, and he held her by her arms, helping push her up off of him, though he seemed reluctant to let go.  For a moment, his mouth worked, as if he were struggling to find something appropriate to say.

"I… I swear, I really don't like dudes like that…" he mumbled lamely.

Naoto stared at him, trying to figure out how to even respond to this.  She was not used to such blatant affection being directed at her and… well, it was not _off putting,_ but she still did not know how people normally responded to this.

"I know that," she finally managed to get out, feeling like a fool.

"I-I just… I don't… uh…"

The poor guy; it almost seemed like he had just as much difficulty articulating what he was feeling to others as she did.  She glanced away a moment, taking a deep breath, before looking back at him.

"You know, you don't have to be ashamed of what you like to do," she finally said.  "Nor should you be ashamed that your gender doesn't fit the 'ideal' for your hobby.  There is nothing wrong with what you like to do."

She paused a moment, a faint smile working its way onto her face.  "And I say that as a detective that's a woman."

Kanji's eyes widened at that, and he could not help but look down for a moment.  Naoto could almost see his brain trying to work that out as he stared down at her chest, and she could not help but feel a little hot at all the attention.  He finally looked back up at her face, a determined look crossing his as he got back up to his feet.

The Shadow saw him getting back up and let out a scoff, trying to hit him with lightning.  Kanji lifted his arms to protect himself, letting out a grunt of annoyance.

"What are you even getting up for?!" his Shadow demanded.  "You won't accept me either!  Just shut up and die with the others!"

Kanji let out an annoyed noise… before suddenly rushing forward to the sound of protests from the girls.  Lightning struck the ground around him, but he ignored it, cocking back with his fist and letting loose on the Shadow as hard as he could.  His fist impacted against its chest with a resounding _BAM,_ knocking the Shadow clear off its feet.  He landed in a heap on the ground, the ridiculously huge body disappearing with a poof of black smoke, returning it to the near naked form from before.

"Did… did he just punch out his own Shadow…?" Saki asked from where she had fallen.  Naoto just let out a faint laugh, shaking her head.

Kanji rubbed at his fist, staring down the Shadow on the ground.  "C'mon, get up!" he demanded after a moment.  "Anyone that looks like me can take a damn punch."

The Shadow crawled back up to its feet, looking like a sullen child that had just been punished.  "Won't anyone accept me…?"

"Aw, shut up," Kanji snapped.  "I already accept 'ya, dammit; I always did.  You just confused the hell out of me with that shit you were spouting.  It ain't about men or women; I'm just scared shitless of no one ever accepting me for who I am!"

For a moment, the Shadow looked surprised, before he smiled and nodded.  Like the others before him, he disappeared into a sea of blue light, replaced with a gigantic bruiser of a Persona holding a lightning bolt-shaped bludgeon, before becoming the Emperor Arcana.  Kanji reached out for the card as it descended, watching it as it disappeared into his hand with a curious look.

"Hunh… so this is like what you guys were doin', hunh?" he asked, turning around.  Unfortunately, that was the point when his strength gave out, and he ended up falling to his knees.  Naoto scrambled up to her feet first, going to check on him, and the attention got him to turn red again.  "Ahh… I'm fine, just a little exhausted, s'all."

Saki was climbing shakily back up to her feet, and she was about to say something when someone else in the room decided to let out a groan.  She shot an irritable look over to where Adachi was just starting to wake up, pushing himself up onto his hands and knees.  After a moment, he lifted his head, looking around at the scene blearily.

"Hunh…?  Is it over?"

Saki's gaze could have frosted over a volcano, and she started to stalk past him, pausing only to give him a swift kick in the shin.  Adachi let out a yelp, falling back over on the ground as Yukiko followed just after her, completely ignoring the detective.  He was just starting to get back up again when Shirogane started past, supporting Kanji as best she could.  She paused only a moment, looking like she was going to say something, before she just shook her head, looking disappointed as she continued to follow the others out.

Adachi stared after them as Teddie squeaked up to him, the only one of them worried and trying to see if he was actually okay.  He waved the bear off after a moment, letting out a faint huff.

"The heck is their problem?"


	17. Chapter Thirteen – The School Campout

Saki paused a moment as she sat down at the usual table they took when it was raining during one of their meetings.  Of all the people she thought she would hang out with, she never imagined someone like Kanji Tatsumi to be one of them.  But there he was, looking like he had just stumbled in from a long nap, with Yukiko offering to get him some tea to help wake him up.  He shook it off, though something like gratitude did flash across his face briefly at the offer.

"So, it's just us today?" he asked.  "Kinda a small turn out for my first time joinin' you guys."

"Naoto-kun said she'd be by later," Saki replied, before her expression soured.  "Adachi said he didn't feel like hanging out with all the girls today."

Kanji gave her a weird look at that.  "'All the girls'?  But I'm—"

He cut himself off as it dawned on him what that meant.  "…he was includin' me in that, hunh?  I'll beat the crap out of him when I see him next."

"Get in line," Yukiko muttered under her breath.

Saki let out a sigh, pinching the bridge of her nose.  Really, she was grateful that those they had managed to save so far were willing to join them in trying to solve this mystery.  She had no idea what she would do if it was still her and Adachi, with how steadily unreliable he became with every new victim.

She almost said as much, when Naoto finally arrived, a grim look on her face as she navigated the pathways with overhangs to get to them.  A file full of papers was clutched tightly to her chest, heavy enough to let out a loud _thud_ when she set it on the table.  Kanji's eyes were on the stack, before he turned a bit pink as he quietly admired how such a tiny girl hauled something that heavy around.

"I apologize for the delay," she began, taking her seat next to Kanji and making him turn even pinker, never mind that she did not seem to notice.  "With the continued deaths, the police department here is finding new ways to shut me out from the case.  I'm afraid my own kidnapping and subsequent outing did not help matters much."

Naoto's expression soured, and it did not take much to imagine just how long the line to punch Adachi was at this point.

"However, I was able to acquire the information on another murder the police managed to cover up," she said, pulling out a victim's information pamphlet from the folder.  Yukiko let out a gasp when she saw it, and both Saki and Kanji squinted at the image of an older man with _severely_ bad buck teeth.

"Is that King Moron?" he asked, only to receive an aghast look from Naoto.

"No, it's what everyone calls him, even some of the teachers behind his back," Saki replied.  It may have been disrespectful, but it was well deserved.  "The guy is a creep; I had him as my homeroom professor last year.  He kept yelling at me and all the other girls that had boyfriends about how impure we were."

"He got on my case too when I showed up for school before all this went down," Kanji pointed out, "kept babblin' about how punks like me give the school a bad rep.  He wouldn't even listen to me when I told him I wasn't the one runnin' the motorcycle gangs."

"You're not?" Saki asked curiously.

Kanji pounded his fist on the table in frustration.  "Hell no!  I beat the hell out of those punks 'cause they were keepin' ma up at night.  Next thing I know, everyone's callin' me their leader!"

Both Saki and Yukiko stared at him in bewilderment, before letting out exasperated noises.  Naoto, however, was too busy staring at the folder, a thoughtful look on her face.  In the next moment, she tackled it, pulling out the letters left behind on the public message boards by the killer.

"Look, Adachi-san was right.  There is more than one person doing this," she said, pushing three forward for them to read.  "These three are from the deaths of Ebihara and Morooka, as well as the message sent when the killer was mocking the police department."

Saki leaned over to read; Ebihara's she had already seen, as well as the message mocking the police – it was the same as had been left on the computer that was sabotaged.  The one for King Moron, of course, was entirely new:

> perverts and scum  
> purity is the lie  
> watch the truth dangle  
> impurity dripping to the ground

"Now," Naoto continued, tapping the message that had been left before Kanji disappeared, "this was the warning we received about Tatsumi-kun."

Yukiko frowned over that.  "The one that did not make sense…" she murmured.

"Could the 'spinning' in that message be referring to a motorcycle?" Saki asked.

"Seems that way," Naoto confirmed.  "Which would mean that whomever wrote this message did not know Tatsumi-kun as well as the other victims."

"So who ever grabbed me and tossed me in was different from these guys," Kanji replied, looking annoyed.  "S'like the one guy's gettin' to know people before throwing 'em away like trash.  The other one just don't give a shit."

A cloud of gloom hung low over all four of them.  Yukiko wrapped her arms around her stomach, looking like she was going to be sick.

"But then… which one threw me in?" she asked softly.  "These messages did not start appearing until after we rescued Naoto-kun."

No one had an answer for that, and a sigh of frustration passed between all of them.  Naoto started gathering up the paperwork she had spread out, tapping them even before setting them back into the folder.

"The only thing we know for certain is it's someone in the high school," she said after a moment.  "Beyond that we have no other clues."

"Everyone is really tense at school too…" Saki pointed out, resting her elbows on the table.  "You can feel it walking down the halls.  And on top of it, there's the school camping trip coming up, and the faculty is still going through with it."

Kanji groaned, looking like he wanted to throw something.  "Tch… damn.  They're makin' me go to that, or they're going to hold me back a year."

Naoto tapped her fingers against the folder, thinking.  "That… may be an opportunity we need…" she began, looking up to see everyone's expectant faces.  "This killer is impulsive; there is no pattern to the people he kills, other than they are all in the school.  It's likely he may well snap while out of range of a TV for a few days.  This may be an ample opportunity to catch him."

"Will that be safe with it just being us?" Yukiko asked, only to get a scoff out of Saki.

"What, as opposed to having our deadweight dumbass around?" she asked.  "We should be all right with just us, and there will be a bunch of other people around.  If we can get this guy to snap, we'll have him."

Yukiko did not look so certain, but Kanji looked like he was about ready to plow through the table.

"All right, let's beat this guy's ass!"

~.oOOo.~

They had other things to worry about when it came to the school campout; namely, the fact that they would be cooking for themselves for a night.  The four of them gathered together inside the grocery area of Junes once Saki got off her shift, contemplating the rows and rows of different foods, both local and from all over the world, the massive market chain had to offer.

"Should we just go with something simple?" Yukiko asked, looking a little uneasy.

"Like what?  Curry?" Kanji suggested.

"W-well, curry is pretty simple… and it may as well be our national food…" Saki supplied, sounding just as nervous about the idea of cooking something.  Naoto glanced at the two of them, their unease contagious.

"Senpai, you do know how to cook, right?" she asked.

Yukiko let out a nervous laugh as Saki raised her hands.  "O-of course!" she replied, before looping an arm around one of Yukiko's.  "C-c'mon, we'll get the best ingredients ever!"

The two of them shuffled off, and it was hard to miss how uneasy they were glancing at the vegetables they passed by.  Both Naoto and Kanji managed to have twin looks of exasperation on their faces, and the former let out a sigh before she turned to look up at him.

"Should we look for something easy to make as back up?" she suggested.  "J-just in case?"

"Y-yeah… that sounds… safer…"

The two of them went off in the opposite direction, looking for vegetables that could be cooked up together easily and quickly, just in case.  It was at a large stand for cabbages that they ran into a familiar face, though they almost did not recognize him.  Considering they normally saw him in a suit, even if it was a frumpy suit, it was hard to imagine Adachi in anything else, especially the stained tank top, hoodie, and jeans he had on at the moment.  Kanji stared for a long moment, before he cracked his knuckles, starting toward him.

Naoto reached up, and just putting a gentle hand on his arm was enough to get the giant teen to stop short.  She approached instead, a forced smile on her face.

"Adachi-san, fancy meeting you here."

His head snapped up in surprise, before a sour look came to his face, like they were the last people he wanted to see that day.  Still, he forced a smile on his face as well, grabbing a cabbage and stuffing it into his hand basket, where it joined a packet of ramen noodles.

"Hey, Shirogane-kun," he forced out.  "What're you guys doing here?"

"Shopping for our school trip," she answered.  "We're going to be alone, with the rest of our classmates, for the last two days of this school week."

If he got the implications of that, he did not even bother to acknowledge it.  "Ahh… I just finished my grocery shopping."

Naoto stared at him, before looking down to his hand basket.  That literally was all that was in there; one big cabbage and one big packet of ramen noodles… and he was finished shopping?

"Welp, gotta get going," he said, making a very fast retreat, despite her letting out a noise to try and get him to stop.  She started after him, trying to work out what she had just seen and not making any sense of it.  Detectives had a decent salary in this country – not fantastic, but even considering what pay deductions he may have received from his forced transfer, it still was not so bad that there would be any reason for Adachi to have such a poor diet.

"The hell is his problem anyway?" Kanji asked, but Naoto could not answer him.

~.oOOo.~

The school camping trip, as usual, was one of the most boring, labor intensive things any student had any business getting involved with.  The whole point of the trip was to "get in-tune with ones community by respecting nature"; or in shorter terms, they had to pick up trash all day long in the mountains.  By a few hours in, Saki already wanted to toss her trash bag and walk back home, never mind how far away it was.  The work was becoming murder on her back, and she swore she was finding every disgusting thing imaginable.

It was a relief when they were finally able to break for the day, and Saki felt like she was crawling back to the commune area where the cooking pots were set up.  Yukiko joined her at the one they had already picked out, looking just as tired as she was.

"Someone just abandoned an entire bicycle up here…" she murmured, rubbing at her eyes.  "I can't imagine why anyone would do something like that."

"Lazy people, that's who," Saki replied, before she hesitated, glancing at the pot and the packs they had left nearby.  Yukiko glanced at her, catching onto her unease.

"Senpai… have you cooked before?" she asked softly.

Saki bit her lip.  "Well, I've worked the food court, but…"

But all the food there was prepackaged, with instructions no harder than, "throw on the grill and cook until brown".  She had never made something from scratch before, and even something as simple as curry seemed overly daunting.  Yukiko just nodded in understanding, no further explanation needed.

Saki took a deep breath, before kneeling down by the packs; no need to waste time now, they had to cook _something,_ after all.  She pulled open the first pack, only to realize just after getting it open that it was Naoto's and not hers.

"Oh, it looks like Naoto-kun brought extra vegetables," she pointed out, pulling out a beet.  "We should use these too."

They were well into cooking the curry by the time Naoto and Kanji showed up, both of them looking exhausted from working all day.  Naoto seemed to brighten up right away when she saw them cooking, noting that nothing had exploded yet.

"Senpai, how's it comin'?" Kanji asked.

Yukiko and Saki shuffled a little closer together so they could not see the pot.

"I-it's looking good!" Yukiko exclaimed.  "Why don't you two sit and wait for us to finish?"

Naoto and Kanji paused, exchanging worried glances with each other.  Their reaction was hardly encouraging, but it was not like forcing their way into seeing what was going on was going to help them much.  Hesitantly, they went to sit down, taking nervous glances at the two girls standing around the pot, creeping feelings of dread settling in as they watched them work.

"…somethin' tells me we should be glad we got extra stuff," Kanji muttered.

"Then why does it still feel like a disaster is about to strike…?"

Minutes later, the final concoction was completed, and it was just as disastrous as they anticipated.  The rice looked palatable, but the brown goop they had slopped on top of it was far from that.  It was lumpy and gritty looking, with colors that had no business being in curry poking out from it.  On top of it, it almost seemed to give off a strange, purple mist, as if it was poison given a visible form.  Both Kanji and Naoto stared down at the plates the girls set before them before exchanging worried glances, noting that neither Yukiko nor Saki took a plate for themselves.  Naoto let out a cough, feeling her stomach twist at the mere sight of it.

"A-ah… would you like to try it first, Tatsumi-kun?" she asked.

The expression on Kanji's face was all but screaming, "Hell no," but he could not exactly say as much, not with the pleading look that Naoto was giving him.  He looked uncertainly at the food, back at Naoto, and back down at the plate, before finally swallowing back his nerves.

"W-what the hell…" he muttered, trying to sound brave even though he looked scared out of his mind.  He raised a spoonful, his hand shaking as the brown glop _wiggled_ on it, that purple mist continuing to waft up.  A faint, "Bottoms up," escaped from him, before he shoved the concoction into his mouth…

…and then promptly passed out.

"T-Tatsumi-kun!" Naoto exclaimed, shooting up from her seat as both Yukiko and Saki cringed back.  For a moment, Kanji literally looked like he had died, that faint purple mist escaping from his mouth as his eyes rolled back and a groan of utter agony emitted from him.  It took him a good minute before he was finally able to push himself back up, looking like death had rolled over, and he was just a fresh corpse ready for burial.

"K-Kanji-kun…?" Yukiko began nervously.  Kanji slowly turned a dead eyed gaze to her, an expression that made her shrink back behind Saki.  A moment later he blinked, finally, and then proceeded to _snap._

 _"WHAT THE HELL IS THIS SHIT?!"_ he bellowed, loud enough to make classmates from the other tables stop and stare.  _"THIS AIN'T CURRY, IT'S… IT'S…!"_

Kanji could not keep his rage up any more, planting a hand over his mouth and struggling not to throw up.  Naoto looked forlornly at her own plate, before letting out a sigh.

"It's Mystery Concoction X," she dubbed it, pushing her plate away.

"We're sorry," Saki apologized, her shoulders sinking.  "We… really did try?"

"Try what?" Kanji growled out.  "You managed to make it slimy and gritty and mushy all at the same time!"

"W-well, there _is_ a lot of love in it…?" Yukiko offered, peering over Saki's shoulder.  Kanji looked like he was about to throw their "love" at the both of them in revenge.  Naoto let out a sigh, shaking her head.

"Well, we did pick up extra food, just in case this would happen."

Now it was Saki's turn to cringe.  "…the… extra vegetables in your bag…?" she asked, and that feeling of dread from before started to creep up Naoto's spine.  "We… used all of them."

Naoto could only stare in mute disbelief, and Kanji stared at her, waiting, just _waiting_ for an excuse to retaliate for this.  Finally, she let out another sigh, turning away from all the stupidity before her, and that was all the excuse Kanji needed.  He shot up from his seat, grabbing his plate as a cruel grin worked its way onto his face.

"K-Kanji…!" Saki began, backing up in fear as he approached.

"T-think this through, please…!" Yukiko begged.

In the next moment, the two of them turned and broke out into a run, Kanji hot on their heels and screaming at them to suffer like he just suffered.  Naoto let out a sigh, pinching the bridge of her nose; what a fantastic group they were.  It was a small wonder how they managed to get anything done, even without Adachi there.

The thought of the detective brought a frown to her face, and she stared despondently at her useless plate of food, realizing that even with his cabbage and ramen grocery list, he was eating a lot better than she was at the moment.  It did not help that there were delicious smells all around her, especially from just behind her.

"…that looks terrible," a neutral voice said.  She looked up in surprise to see a grey haired teen holding his own plate of food, and she almost wanted to drool at how tantalizingly delicious it smelled.  She glanced back at her plate, before letting out a sigh.

"It is completely inedible," she replied, not that she needed to.  It was obvious just by looking at it.

A faint smile came to the boy's face, before he suddenly took her plate, chucking it and the nastiness that went with it into a nearby bin.  She stared, bewildered, as he located another plate for her to use, scraping off some of his own dish onto it, before placing that in front of her instead.  Naoto started down at it, her stomach letting out a rebellious growl, before turning back up to him.

"T-thank you…" she mumbled.

He smiled faintly again, before going off to join a dark haired boy at a table further down.

~.oOOo.~

Naoto's stomach was the only one not making obscenely loud noises as they settled in for the night.  On one hand, she wanted to be a _little_ guilty for not only eating someone else's food, but also not trying to stop Kanji from throwing that horrid slop at Saki and Yukiko, to the point they had to rinse their hair out in the nearby stream.  She _wanted_ to, but she could not manage it; next time anyone had to cook for anyone, there was going to be a recipe book involved, and they were going to stick to it down to the letter.

"So…" Saki began, trying not to look as miserable as she felt, "did anyone notice anyone acting strangely?"

"Not really…" Yukiko replied.  "Everyone was so busy picking up garbage, that nothing really looked abnormal."

So they had a disaster of a dinner, and on top of it, no additional clues.  A depressed sigh passed between the three of them; maybe they would get lucky tomorrow, but none of them were holding their breath on that.

~.oOOo.~

Kanji was sprawled out on the sleep roll provided in the tents, trying desperately to ignore the intense air that surrounded him.  All of the first years boy tents were "mysteriously" full by the time he got to them, leaving him hunting for somewhere else to sleep.  The only other option was a second year tent, as there were only two other boys inside that he knew of, but did not really know.  The grey haired kid did not seem to mind his presence so much, but the other kid…

"U-uh…" he finally spoke up, eyeing Kanji with trepidation.  "Y-you sure there were no other first year tents free…?"

"Positive," Kanji replied.

"O-oh…" he said, but he still looked uneasy as the tense atmosphere persisted.  Another moment passed before he spoke up again.  "A-are… you sure it's safe for us to be around you?"

The grey haired guy let out a choking noise at that, and Kanji shot them both a look that could have called down lightning and struck them both.  The kid that had spoken scooted back, knocking right into his friend.

"W-well… I-I mean… w-we all saw that broadcast on TV…!" he stammered out.  For a moment, Kanji was having trouble trying to understand what he was getting at; that kind of reaction could not just be over a motorcycle report, right?  It clicked in his head a second later, helped by the jittering boy absently crossing his legs, and Kanji near snapped.

_"I DON'T LIKE DUDES, DAMMIT!"_

The kid let out a fearful noise, backing further toward his friend, who had to turn his back to them to keep himself from bursting out into laughter.

"T-that kind of reaction doesn't help, you know!" the kid squeaked.

Kanji let out an irritated growl, grabbing his pack and hopping up to his feet.

"Screw this," he snapped, near ripping open the tent flaps as he made his way out, and missing the relieved looks passing between the two boys.

~.oOOo.~

None of the girls were tired that night, despite having worked all day.  Lucky for them, Saki had thought to bring along a small board game for them to pass the time.  They were well into it, when a tug came from the latched up tent flap, and a familiar voice hissed at them from the other side.

"Oy, lemme in."

Naoto's eyes widened, and she scooting a little closer to the entrance.  "Tatsumi-kun?  What are you doing on the girls' side?"

"Assholes on the guys' side," he growled.  "Now lemme in! There's teachers prowlin' 'round out here!"

The thought of Kanji getting expelled was worse than the thought of him spending the night with them, and Naoto quickly ripped open the tent flaps so he could stumble in.  He helped her close the tent up tight, before flopping down in front of the entrance, with both Yukiko and Saki giving him wary looks.  Not because he was a guy in a girl's tent; the memory of cleaning slop out of their hair was still fresh in their minds.

"Sorry, I'll get outta here before anyone else wakes up," he said.  "The first years tents were all taken up, and when I did finally find a spot, the guys were jerks about me bein' around."

"Why?" Yukiko asked.

Kanji just let out an annoyed noise.  "Th' Midnight Channel.  Damn thing is going to haunt me for the rest of my life, I know it," he explained.  "The one guy didn't seem to mind his friend gettin' all close to him though; guess he was afraid I'd steal 'em or somethin'."

~.oOOo.~

Saki felt like a complete zombie the next morning, considering how little sleep she got.  The starved grumbling of her stomach and the fact that Kanji sounded like a bulldozer while sleeping kept her up nearly the entire night.  To add insult to injury, he had trouble trying to pull the flaps on the tent open when he woke up to vacate the girl's side before any teachers woke up, making her pull herself off of her sleeping mat and help him.  Yukiko seemed to be in a similar state of sleep deprivation, and Naoto, somehow, managed to sleep through the night.

When they were dismissed for the morning, Saki wanted to cry in relief, and she trudged through the crowd of students clamoring to get off the mountain as quickly as possible, looking for the others.  One of the students in a rush knocked into her, and she let out a yelp, her lack of sleep making it hard for her to immediately catch her balance.  She landed roughly on her knees, right on a rocky patch of dirt.  Saki sucked in a breath, but the student that bumped her did not even seem to notice.  She gave herself a moment so she would not scream as soon as she got back up, before seeking out the health tent.

The Student Health Committee looked like they were still in the process of packing everything up, though one of the tents was still up and open.  A grey haired boy was working hard packing boxes of supplies to get ready to take back to the school, and he did not notice her until he looked up.  He blinked in surprise a moment, before jumping up to help her sit down.

"I hurt my knee out there," Saki explained.  "Sorry, I know you're cleaning up."

"That's okay," he replied, helping her roll up her pant leg so he could see how bad it was.  Saki winced when she saw blood was already starting to soak through her pant leg, and the actual sight of the wound was not much better.

The boy gave a nod, before going over to pull some supplies out of the boxes he was packing.  As he worked, Saki frowned to herself, watching him moving around.

"When did you join the Health Committee?" she asked, curious.

He looked up at her, like he was not sure what to do with the sudden conversation, before he answered, "Morooka-sensei told me I had to, before he…"

He trailed off; the student body had been told that King Moron had been transferred to another school, in an effort to prevent the atmosphere in the school from getting any tenser than it already was.  Most students did not believe that lie, but no one was willing to say anything about it.

"He told me one of the other members had left, and they needed someone to fill for him right away," he finished, starting to clean out her wound with peroxide.

Saki flinched, though not just from the sting of the chemical.  "…my brother, Naoki, was on the Health Committee."

The boy froze at that, turning a guilty look up to her.  "…I'm sorry."

Saki shook her head, watching him in silence as he finished bandaging up her knee.  He sat back once he was done, giving a satisfied nod.

"Good as new?" he asked.

Saki stood up, tentatively putting weight on her knee.  "Yeah, thanks."

He smiled faintly, and looked like he was going to say something more, when a voice calling from across the way cut him off.

"Oy, Souzen-kun!  Are you done yet?"

Saki turned to see a dark haired boy, glancing nervously at her, but for the most part, keeping his focus on the grey haired boy.

"Ah, I'll be there in a moment, Ichijo!" he called back, before turning back to Saki.  "Is there anything else you need?"

"No, thanks," Saki replied, making her way out of the tent.

She made her way to the edge of the tree line, following the path along until she came to the riverside, where they all agreed to meet if they could not get together beforehand.  Naoto was already there, her feet soaking in the water and Kanji lounged next to her.  Yukiko was coming in from a different path, and they all cast alarmed looks to Saki when they saw the state of her pant leg.  She waved the concern off, insisting she was fine, before she asked the all important question:

"Do we have any new leads?"

Yukiko shook her head sadly.  Naoto looked disappointed and frustrated, and Kanji just let out an annoyed huff.  Saki let out a tired sigh, falling down by the river next to Naoto; so much for their grand idea to flush out the murderers…


	18. Interlude

To be honest? I enjoyed those couple days away from the kids a lot more than I probably should have. It was quiet, I didn't have anyone nagging me about the TV, or about not taking it seriously enough. All I had was just Dojima yelling at me for not doing my job how he liked to see my job done. Whatever, right? It was just a job; just a means to an end.

You know, I'm pretty sure everyone expected my place to be a sty. They always looked so damn surprised when they saw how clean it was. Not a speck of dust or… well, anything, anywhere. I hated this place, so I never bothered unpacking more than a few changes of clothes and my laptop before everything went to shit. Why bother? What was the point? This was just supposed to be temporary, and then I would be right back to the city.

I had my spot on the floor next to the bed and in front of the table that gave me a good view of the TV, and that was all I really needed to curl up with my computer, or lean back with a beer and watch the news, not that that shit was much better any more. If it wasn't a report about the murders, it was a report about some stupid drama I didn't care about, like someone cheating on someone with someone else. Boring.

The night before I was going to have to deal with the kids again was when I caught the latest of the boring newscasts that I usually tuned out. This one was different, though; a press conference of a little kid, looking small and vulnerable with her pigtails and frilly clothes. The headline splashed along the bottom of the screen screamed, "Risette retiring?!" like it was some kind of massive tragedy.

I knew what the tragedy was: the kid looked like she was barely old enough to be in high school, and she was _retiring._ Must have been nice to be that privileged.

_"That concludes Rise Kujikawa's statement regarding her temporary leave of absence from the entertainment industry."_

So she was supposed to be some kind of idol, one of those manufactured singing girls that were primped and primed to make grown men turn into horn dogs. Mind you, it _worked,_ but I had never heard of the chick. When it came to music, groups like Gas Chamber – which I guess would be considered "old school" in this day and age, sheesh – were more my kind of thing.

Apparently her taking a break was tantamount to a crime, because the news reporters in the conference were practically hounding her with questions. One question caught my attention though:

_"Rumor has it you'll be staying with your relatives, but isn't that in Inaba where the murders have been taking place?"_

My eyes widened, matching the little girl on the screen, who looked really alarmed that her retirement plans had just been exposed. She fumbled for a response, but I tuned out at that point, letting out a groan and flopping back against the bed next to me. Great, just fucking peachy; now both the kids _and_ probably Dojima were going to be hounding my ass about protecting this chick.

To hell with this shitty world.


	19. Chapter Fourteen – Can You See the Real Me?

As Adachi expected, Dojima near grabbed him by his collar and dragged him into a conference the day after Rise Kujikawa's big retirement announcement.  It was there that he got the low down on the girl, not that he really cared: fifteen years old, had been an idol for a few years after winning some competition or other, grandmother owned the tofu joint in the shopping district.  Adachi was only half paying attention to the whole meeting, and only snapped out of his stupor when Dojima snapped at him to go on his patrol.  Apparently the girl was in town _now,_ and he needed to keep an eye out, along with whoever else was around.

No sooner did he end up driving his beat up clunker into the shopping district did the other expected thing happen: namely, being waved down by Saki as soon as he passed by the liquor store.  Adachi tried desperately to resist the urge to run her over and instead slowly follow her down the street, where Kanji, Shirogane, and Yukiko were already gathered at the entrance to the shrine.  It was time for meeting number two, and he still did not give a damn, not even enough to get out of his car.

"Look, guys, I'm supposed to be on patrol…" he tried to protest, but as usual, it went ignored.

"This is more important, Adachi-san," Shirogane replied coldly.  "We believe that Kujikawa will be the murderer's next target."

"Yeah I—"

"But which murderer?" Saki interrupted before he could even finish.

"It might be the one that put us in the TV," Yukiko said, motioning to Kanji and Shirogane.  "That one seems to focus on the people that have appeared on the television."

"And the other one has a different focus," Shirogane agreed, scrunching her face up in thought.  "Which means—"

Adachi was in no mood to be interrupted and ignored, and the fact that they had done both in the space of a few minutes was enough to grate on his nerves.  He slouched back into his car, driving off despite the protests that followed behind him.  Unfortunately, he did not end up very far down the street, as he suddenly ran into a traffic jam centered around his destination.  He poked his head out the window, staring at the people half hanging out of their cars around the tofu shop, cameras held out, trying to get a shot of whomever was working inside.

He let out a groan, thumping his head against the steering wheel, before pulling over to park.  Why, why, _why_ did he have to deal with all this shit?  He snatched up his radio, calling the disturbance in and requesting back up, before going to get his baton out of the trunk.  Stupid hick town…

By the time the rest of the group caught up to him, he had already gotten most of the cars to disperse, but that said nothing about the crowd of people that were also ignoring the fact that a _detective_ was telling them to get off the street.

"C'mon, guys!  Stay on the side walk!" he grumbled, trying to usher the crowd over with little success.

Saki crossed her arms over her chest as she watched the display, shaking her head at how pathetic his efforts were.  He shot her an irritable look, just daring her to say something, as a kid came out of the tofu shop.

"Aw man, Risette isn't here," he whined.  "It's just some old lady."

The crowd let out a disappointed groan at that, slowly dispersing until there was only one person left.  It took Adachi a moment to place him; the kid was always so quiet and neutral sounding every time he got dragged to Dojima's house, that half the time he forgot he was there.

"Seito-kun?" Adachi asked, drawing the teen's attention to him.  For a moment, it seemed like he was not sure how to react to the detective's presence, before something that might have been a smile creased his lips ever so slightly.

"Adachi-san," he returned.  "Sorry, I was actually in line to pick up some tofu for dinner tonight."

"Ah, okay," Adachi replied, reaching back to scratch at his neck.  Hunh, that was the most expression he ever saw in the kid.  "I'm sure Dojima-san would appreciate that.  Just no harassing the owners looking for Kujikawa, hunh?"

Seito gave a faint nod, before entering the shop.  The detective let out a sigh, turning around, only to see that Saki was giving him a look that could melt the concrete.

"What?" he demanded, not in the mood for whatever she was going to throw at him.

Shirogane cut in before she could say anything, however.  "Could he be a suspect…?"

Adachi opened his mouth to protest, but again, he was cut off.

"I don't think so," Saki replied, finally turning away from him.  "I haven't talked to him that much, but he doesn't seem to match your profile."

Adachi stared for a moment, before shaking his head, moving to go back to his car.  Kanji followed him with his eyes, before calling after him.

"Oy, what do you think you're doin'?"

The detective paused at that, shooting him a glare.  "One, I'm wondering where the hell my back up is, and two, I'm going to stay here and make sure no more weirdoes end up hanging around here.  Now why don't you all go play detective _anywhere_ else and leave me do my _job!"_

It was probably excessively harsh, even for him, but Adachi was too annoyed by the whole situation to care how it sounded.  This place was a dump, a massive pile of shit like the rest of the world, and at that point he really did not give a damn about what anyone thought of him.  Yukiko looked a bit stricken, but no one was willing to say anything as he turned back around to go to his car.

By the time he looked back after radioing dispatch, they were gone without a word.

~.oOOo.~

Seito paused at the entrance to the Marukyu Tofu Shop, letting his eyes adjust to the much darker interior.  For a moment, he was not even sure if anyone was behind the counter attending the store, until his eyes adjusted enough to notice the pink blob moving around slightly in the corner of his vision.  He waited until the blob solidified into an easier to define shape, before approaching the counter.

"Excuse me."

The person paused, before turning around to give him a tired glance.  She was very petite, and matched the description of the girl that everyone in school had been talking non-stop about all day, though she did not really match the "perky" and "cute" parts at the moment.  Really, she more looked like she wanted to take a nap where she was standing.

"Can I help you?" she asked, her voice sounding as tired as she looked.

"Can I get some tofu please?"

She just shook her head.  "Sorry, we're all out."

Seito paused at that, glancing around at the vacant display cases; clearly half of Inaba was going to be having tofu for dinner tonight.

"Ganmudoki then?" he asked, noticing that one was still close to full.  She gave a nod at that, going to take a bag and scoop some out.  The two of them were awkwardly silent, and Seito hesitated a moment, looking like he very much wanted to say something.  He paused, pursing his lips, before finally just coming out with it.

"Has anyone weird been around?"

She paused, glancing up at him.  "Weird?  Oh, you mean like a stalker?" she asked, only to draw a confused noise out of him.  She sounded like it was not that weird at all.

"Something like that," he answered after a beat.  "There's two murderers somewhere in this town, and one of them is going after people that have been on TV."

"I've heard the stories, and the rumors," she replied.  "You think I will be a target?"

"There's a detective outside the shop right now; I'm not the only one."

She let out a confused noise at that, glancing past him just in time to see a scruffy looking guy in a beat up suit pick a spot to stand at just outside the shop.  For a moment, she did not look like she believed him; no one that dressed like that could possibly be a detective, but Seito let out a faint laugh.

"He's my uncle's partner," he explained.  "He doesn’t look like much, but he is a detective."

A faint smile finally came to her face.  "That was harsh, but thank you," she said softly.  "I'll be careful."

She handed over his ganmudoki, and he paid her the four hundred something yen.  For a moment, he hesitated, like he was just going to leave, before he suddenly blurt out:

"I'm Souzen Seito."

He paused this time, turning a vibrant shade of pink.  Her eyes widened a moment, like she was not entirely sure how to react, before she let out a soft giggle.

"Kujikawa Rise."

~.oOOo.~

It was like a blessing from the heavens when Dojima finally showed up, and Adachi very well nearly bent himself over in gratitude.  After Seito had left, more creeps had shown up that were clearly not interested in tofu, and with some of them, not even flashing his badge was enough to get them to back the hell off.  His partner showed up just as one such creeper was about to get rowdy, and one glare from the older detective sent them all packing.  No matter how grateful he was, however, and no matter how well he managed to keep the sidewalk clear, it did not stop Dojima from giving him a thump on the head.

"You can't deal with one creep, Adachi?" he demanded.  "Stop acting like a damn rookie."

Adachi resisted the urge to scream as Dojima entered the tofu shop, reluctantly following after him a moment later.  The girl he had seen on the television was there cleaning up shop, and Dojima already had her attention.

"Sorry to interrupt your day," he was saying as Adachi came up behind him, "but there are some questions I'd like to ask you.  You do know there has been a string of violent incidents in town recently.  I need to know if you've seen anything unusual."

The Rise girl shook her head, looking much more tired than anyone her age had any right to look.  "It's been the same as always."

Dojima looked a bit taken aback by that answer, not that Adachi was entirely surprised.  As he understood it, his partner had always been a country guy; big city folks and idols were probably a bit beyond his grasp.

"I guess fans and paparazzi around are pretty normal for you…" he replied.  "What made you decide to take a break from showbiz?"

She looked offended by that question.  "Does it matter?" she asked first, before her expression deflated, like she did not have the energy to stay mad.  "I just needed a rest."

Dojima just nodded, not questioning it, which made Adachi want to scream.  She was a _teenager;_ so what if she had a big job or whatever, she had no reason to be so damn "tired" that she had to retire.  The more he thought about it, the more he heard it, the more he wanted to grab her by the shoulders and shout about how stupid she was being.

"And you've registered for school then?" Dojima continued, to which she nodded.

"I'll be starting at Yasogami High next week."

Dojima paused, frowning.  "…I don't mean to alarm you, it's just you have a number of things in common with the victims—"

"And you think I'll be targeted next?" Rise finished for him.  "Yes, I know about all that already."

It had to be the first time Adachi had ever seen his partner shocked mute.  He glanced back and forth between the two of them, before he asked what Dojima was obviously going to ask.

"Someone told you about all this already?"

She nodded in response.  "A guy with grey hair.  He was wearing a school uniform, so I guess he was a student."  Rise paused, letting out a tired sigh.  "Are we done?"

Dojima gave a nod, and the former idol ducked into the back of the store and out of sight.  Adachi could already tell that the wheels were turning in his partner's head, probably drawing several conclusions he did not like.  It did not seem very fair for Seito, especially when he—

Something clicked in Adachi's head then; it was a terrible, terrible idea.  It was a dick move, even for him, but if it caught him just a few moments of peace in his already annoying as hell life, maybe it would be worth it…

"Y-ya know, your nephew probably doesn't have anything to do with this at all," he pointed out.  "Don't forget, Shirogane's at that school too, hanging out with certain people, like Tatsumi… he probably heard them talking about the case, 'ya know?"

Dojima paused at that, and Adachi could see those gears turning again.  He glanced at Adachi, giving him a nod, before starting on his way out.

~.oOOo.~

"You've been censored?!"

Saki nearly knocked her chair over as she shot up from it, never mind the stares that she was getting from other Junes food court patrons.  Naoto glanced at the looks aimed in their direction, watching the people slowly start to go back to their meals, before she let out a soft sigh.

"It wouldn't be the first time that this has happened during an investigation," she said calmly.  "My… determination does not always sit well with other detectives.  This is the first time I've been censored due to, 'unethical practices', however."

"Is it because of us?" Yukiko asked.  "Should we not meet with each other so openly anymore?"

"It could be, but I'm not sure," Naoto admitted.  "Regardless, I no longer have access to any police files related to this case."

Saki opened her mouth, trying to think of something to say, only to end up clicking it closed.  She glanced over Naoto's head, down the walk path, to see a familiar slouching individual in a frumpy suit.  Her eyes narrowed, and her hands curled up into fists.  Oh, she had a feeling she knew who _exactly_ had been responsible for all this.  She muttered an excuse me to the others, pushing herself away from the table and storming over to the path.

Adachi had a lot of nerve not to even flinch in the face of the glare that Saki was giving him, but then again, he was at such a point of not giving a damn anymore, that nothing could bother him at this point.  She stopped before him, and when he did not react to her heated presence, she folded her arms over her chest.

"Are you happy with yourself?" she demanded.

Adachi gave her a blank look; oh, he knew what she was talking about, but playing dumb was one of his specialties.  He rubbed at the back of his neck, tilting his head.

"Happy about what?"

For a moment, Saki looked like she was going to smack Adachi, and for that moment, he almost wished she would.  He did not realize how much he wanted the damn chance to drag her ass to jail; hell, it was her fault he was even in this mess to begin with.  Of course he should have the right to take it out on her if he wanted to, right?  It took her a visible amount of effort to lower her hand, letting out a noise that sounded like she was more disappointed in herself for not being able to go through with it.

"You are just… so _worthless,"_ she hissed instead.  "You don't want to be involved?  Fine.  We'll solve this case."

Yeah, good luck with that; Adachi rolled his eyes skyward as she turned on her heel and stomped off.  He just could not resist the opportunity to get one last dig in, though:

"Careful, Saki-chan; vigilantism is also against the law!"

She let out a noise that may well have been a gorilla roar for all he cared; he was already on his way out, a pleased smile on his face.  Finally; maybe now he could get some peace and quiet and get through his time in this stupid town without further incident.

~.oOOo.~

That night, Dojima treated him to sushi at his place.

Adachi was nearly drooling the entire way to his partner's residence, the sushi platter in the back seat of the car just begging for him to dig into it.  Dojima had to smack him away from taking it out once they parked and almost purposefully elbowed him in the head once they got into the house and he made a move to sneak one out while Dojima was busy shucking off his shoes.  Sushi was always worth the abuse, and before long he was settled with Nanako and Seito on either side of him, sauce and plates ready to go.

Nanako looked up at him curiously; in the few other times he had been over, she seemed to be getting used to his presence.  At least she did not immediately run and hide when he walked in the door any more.

"What are we celebrating?" she asked, also marking the first time she had spoken to him directly.  Seito also had what might have been a curious look on his face if he was not always so damn neutral looking, and Adachi hesitated, looking to Dojima for an answer.  His partner pointed his chopsticks in his direction.

"This guy helped us get control of the case back," he replied.  "Probably completely by accident, but we'll be able to handle this on our terms again."

Adachi smiled sheepishly, rubbing at the back of his neck.  He really wanted to say that it was not an accident at all, but it probably would not have made him look too good.  Besides, even _Seito_ was smiling at that news; he did not want to ruin that opportunity by looking like an ass.

"Ah… heh…" he laughed sheepishly.  "It was no big deal."

Dojima gave the go ahead to eat, and him and Seito dug in immediately, with his partner pointing out that they were going to need to step up their game now as he grabbed up his choices.  Adachi's attention was drawn to Nanako, however, noticing that she was less than enthusiastic about digging in.  He knew that look; the look of someone being forced to eat something they did not like.  He had made that face plenty of times as a kid, being forced to choke down his mother's nimono.

"What's wrong, Nanako-chan?" he asked.  "You don't like sushi?"

She glanced up at him, before shaking her head.  "There's wasabi on it."

Dojima cringed at that.  "Sorry, I forgot to tell them to leave it off.  What one would you like; I'll scrape it off for you."

"Halibut!" she chirped back happily.

Adachi grinned at that.  "Oh, such mature taste, Nanako-chan," he crowed, before getting his chopsticks ready, a determined look on his face as he darted them forward, snapping up his all time favorite.  "I'll just take the urchin roe here!"

 _"Hey!"_ Dojima snapped, looking like someone had killed his goldfish to make the sushi platter as Adachi stuffed the piece into his mouth.  "They only made one of those!"

Adachi grinned broadly, before swallowing the delicious and wonderful piece of fish.  "Snooze you lose, Dojima-san!"

For the first time since coming there, dinner was lively for once, and beer was not even involved.  It felt too soon that Nanako was starting to nod off, and Seito offered to take her to bed.  Adachi had to swivel around to check the clock, surprised to see that it was just past nine.

"Ah, guess I should get going," he said, starting to get up.  Dojima stopped him before he could get very far, however, giving him a critical eye.  Adachi cringed, half expecting revenge for taking the only urchin roe on the platter.

"How long have you been going without a tie?"

He had to stare a moment, not expecting that at all.  "Eh?"

Dojima shook his head, motioning for him to follow him upstairs.  Adachi followed like a meek little puppy dog, though he was ready to bolt at a moment's notice, especially when his partner opened the door to what was obviously his room.  He paused at the threshold, and did not dare set a foot inside until his partner turned around and glared at him, and even then he tried to cram himself in as small of a space as possible as Dojima fished around in his dresser drawer, finally pulling out a faded red tie that looked like it had seen better days.

"It's beat up, but it should do," he said, holding it out to Adachi.  "Start wearing it; we're going to need to step up our game as much as possible, and you should at least look like you're prepared for work."

Adachi hesitated, almost afraid to even reach out, before finally gingerly taking the beat up old tie.

"…thanks," he said softly, not really sure how to feel about it.  Even as he left the Dojima household, he still held it like it was fine china, pausing at the top of the street to look back and watch as the last of the lights winked out in the house.

It was a long, lonely walk back to his apartment, and Adachi was not very conscious of it until it started to rain.  He swore under his breath, shoving the tie under his jacket and running the rest of the way home, but it was not enough to keep him from looking like a drowned rat by the time he made it to the door.  A sigh escaped from him as he started stripping down to his boxers, laying his suit out for it to dry and thanking whatever gods were out there that he actually had the day off tomorrow, despite all of Dojima's talk of needing to step up their game.

He had just flopped onto his bed for the night, when a _snap_ came from the TV; right, the Midnight Channel.  After screwing over Naoto, he had practically forgotten about it.  Adachi almost did not lift his head, electing to ignore it for the rest of forever, when some… _sultry_ music started to play.  He snapped his head up just in time to see the most picture perfect pair of legs, the camera panning up to a gold bikini and a very generous rack, before finally settling on the face of Rise Kujikawa.

 _"Maru-Q~!"_ she exclaimed, blowing a kiss at the screen to an accompaniment of a burst of stars and hearts.  "This spring, one young girl levels up to become a high school idol!  I'm going to celebrate by pushing the limits!  It's showtime!"

Like most of the others before her, a cheesy sign appeared on the screen, proclaiming the show, "Too Hot for TV! Risette Bares All!"  Rise had a hand on either side of her face, shaking her head like she was shocked, but the acting was so poor that it was clear she was just doing all this for the attention.

"Oh, show what, you ask?" she asked, before giving a sly wink.  "Ev-ry-thing!"

The camera zoomed in on her chest again, watching it give a bounce that threatened to pop her out of her bikini top, before she turned around and thrust her behind toward the screen.  She trotted away, toward what looked like the most glitzy strip joint in existence, lighted hearts and stars flashing around silhouettes of girls posing.

"Oh ho~!  Is this too hot for TV?" she asked, giving the viewers another wink.  "But if something is worth doing, it's worth doing all the way!  Stay tuned, dear viewers!  I'm going to bare it all for you!"

She blew a kiss to the screen again, before the picture suddenly snapped off.

Adachi was left staring at the empty screen, not even sure how he was supposed to respond to something like that.  It even took him a moment to put two and two together, and realize the dumb girl was trapped in the TV now.  He groaned once it struck him, flopping his head down against the mattress, before attempting to get up.  There were complications with that though, and he felt his face turn red hot as he glanced down at himself.

"No.  Down," he ordered.

~.oOOo.~

Adachi was torn, and he hated himself for it.

He was in his usual plain clothes: hoodie, t-shirt that used to be white, and faded jeans.  His day off was meant to be dedicated to being flopped in front of the television like a beached whale, watching lame day time soap operas and drinking beer.  Instead he found himself practically patrolling, the hood of his oversized hoodie up to hide the fact that he was giving everyone around him suspicious looks.  He did not care about this Rise chick, or the fact that she apparently had secret stripper issues, but what he did care about was if he did not do _something,_ they were going to have another dangling dead body on their hands… maybe even two, if the pattern went the way it was going.

Or more.

It took him a moment to realize his feet were taking him toward the station, and he sighed in exasperation, not bothering to stop himself as he skirted around to the back of the building.  Sure enough, the cameras back there were completely dead, not even a hum of electricity going to them.  He shook his head, before pushing his way inside, making it over to the interrogation room they always used, grabbing his sword from the locker inside, and throwing himself in the TV before he could second guess himself.

When he stepped out, he almost half expected to see the others already there, because that was just the kind of ridiculous luck he had.  Instead, it was just Teddie, huddled up in a corner and looking miserable.  Adachi let out a breath, rolling his eyes skyward, before he pulled on his glasses and approached the bear.

"Hey, Ted," he began.  "What's wrong?"

Teddie jumped, turning around and blinking up at him in surprise.  "Sensei…?" he asked, before he waddled up to his feet, wrapping his arms around Adachi as best he could.  He stared, mouth open, but no sound coming out.  What the heck…?

"Hey, what happened?" he asked, resting a hand on the bear's soft head.

"Everyone was here looking for the Rise girl," Teddie mumbled into his shirt.  "I told them where, but when I said we should wait for sensei, they just left without me."

Adachi stared, at a loss for words.  Geeze, they were treating him like shit just because Teddie wanted to wait for him?  Hell no; that was not cool.  He scritched at his tuft of hair, a faint smile coming to his face.

"Well, I'm here now, right?" he asked softly.  "Why don't we go look for her together?"

Teddie sniffed, looking up at Adachi with tearful eyes.  He tried not to look uncomfortable at that, not used to people being so… dependent on him.  It was cute, and since it was Teddie he could live with it, but it was just… weird.  Who would ever want to look up to a guy like him?

Teddie finally gave a nod, squeaking off toward one of the pathways, with Adachi following just behind him.  The walkway got fogged over quickly, and even with his glasses, he had to hold onto the railing to make sure where he was.  Thankfully Teddie squeaked as he walked, or he might well have lost sight of him too.

"It's not just that that's bothering me, sensei," Teddie began all of a sudden.  "Since you all started coming here, I've been wondering why I'm here.  Who am I?"

"Hunh?" Adachi replied.  "But… you're Teddie, right?"

"Yeah… but I don't remembear where I come from, or why I'm here," Teddie pointed out.  "I've just been here for as long as I can remember, but I can't remember much past when I met you all."

Adachi paused, before reaching out, groping around until his hand could find the bear's head again.

"Maybe you're here 'cause we're here," he said softly.

He could feel Teddie's ears wiggling like they did when he was happy, when the fog started to slowly thin out.  They stepped off the walkway onto what felt like concrete, and the haze thinned out enough that the glitz and glam of stage lights shown through.  Purple lighted walls stood up high before them, with stop lights showing the silhouettes of naked women and kissing lips swinging back and forth.  A set of stairs led up to the wide open entrance, where a pink curtain was hanging low, half blocking the view of the inside.

"Oh man…" Adachi muttered, planting a hand on his face.  "This looks like something you could find on Shirakawa Boulevard…"

Teddie gave him a curious look as he let out a sigh.  It did not look like the others had arrived yet, so it was pretty much up to him and the bear to try and find Rise Kujikawa.  He could already picture how disastrous this would end.  He let out another sigh, reaching under his glasses to rub at his eyes, before settling them back on his face.

"Teddie, I gotta ask," he began, "why the heck did you want to wait for me anyway?"

The bear let out a curious noise, tilting his head.  "…because, you're sensei.  You're really strong, and you can do anything you want."

He paused, before poking at the ground, his foot letting out a little squeak as he did so.

"…and I really look up to you, sensei."

Adachi paused, glancing down at him.  Funny… he could barely stand the bear when he first met him, but he was the only one willing to stick around with him.  Now that he thought of it, no matter how many times he tried to shove Teddie away, he kept coming back, if only to be something he could lean on.  He reached up, scratching at his forehead and not really sure how to even respond to that, before resting a hand on the bear's head.

"Dunno about your taste in people, Ted," he said, a bit of a lopsided smirk coming to his face.  "…but thanks."

Teddie peered up at him, his ears wiggling happily.  Adachi let out a laugh, shaking his head; man, his life had become so damn fucked up.

"All right.  Let's get going."


	20. Chapter Fifteen – A Beary Dark Nothing

Adachi was quickly learning that fighting by himself was ridiculously difficult, especially without the comfort of his gun at close hand.  He could not help himself; he kept reaching for it like it was there every time a Shadow showed up, never mind that actually firing it and wasting the ammo again without a good excuse would get him suspended for sure.  The enemies in this place were super strong – not to mention super perverted, between barely dressed dancers, snakes that obviously stood for things Adachi would have thought more on if he was not neck deep in danger, and more of the bondage macho men – and he had to keep reminding himself to just hold onto his sword and Persona and pray.

The fact that his only back up was a cowardly bear that kept "helping" by making as much noise as possible did not help him at all.

"Will you calm down?!" Adachi finally snapped after defeating a small hoard of Shadows, trying not to look as exhausted as he felt.  Teddie whimpered in response, though he did make a visible effort in trying to pull himself together.

"S-sorry, sensei," he mumbled, huddling a little closer to Adachi.  "I just wish there was something I could do.  It's not fair you gotta do it all by yourself."

Adachi wished there was something the little guy could do too, other than draw all the Shadows to him and run for cover.  He had a feeling that would not be happening, though; he had a sinking suspicion he knew what Teddie was, even if the bear did not seem to know.  If he was right, it probably made the bear perpetually useless.

"Just stick close," Adachi told him instead.  "And don't scream so much."

Teddie bobbed his head, and throughout the rest of the strip joint, the bear did just that.  At least _he_ could listen and take Adachi seriously; he was not entirely sure if it was good that the only person that could was an oversized bear, but he would take his pluses when he got them.

The going was a little easier after that, and while Teddie let out the occasional squeak, he was not running and screaming in terror like before.  With less monsters being drawn to them, Adachi was able to breeze through the floors of the strip joint with him getting beat up less and monsters getting beat up more.  The only thing that was bothering him about how easy the going was, was the fact that normally by now he would have seen some sign of Rise's Shadow around, but there were no voices echoing through the halls, nor no colossal Shadow like what had been in Naoto's secret lab.

Of course, he would get to find out _why_ once he made it to the top floor.

A set of gaudy pink and purple doors adorned with a massive plush heart greeted them as soon as Adachi ascended the final staircase.  He paused to glance down at Teddie, making sure he was still okay, before giving a nod and throwing the doors open.  The two of them ran in, only to immediately end up backpedalling at the sight before them.

There was a massive stage in the center of the room, lights splashing stars, kisses, and hearts all over the walls in a variety of bright colors.  A few rows of seats were spread out across the room, making it look like it was a private stage for a small group.  Kanji was draped over one of the chairs, twitching slightly as he tried to pull himself together, while Naoto was just under the one he was draped over, knocked out cold.  Yukiko was in the center aisle, her fan and part of her arm frozen to the floor, while Saki could just barely be seen a short distance from her, her school uniform charred and ripped up.

On the stage itself was what Adachi could only describe as a tie-dye gone wrong.  The Shadow was practically humping a set of poles on the stage, prancing and dangling back and forth from them in glee.  It was so indistinct other than the gross color explosion on its body, that it _did not even have a face,_ instead having a satellite dish and pigtails for a head.  Rise was passed out cold just below her, still wearing the apron and hair kerchief from the tofu shop.

 _"Oooooh! Do we have a new guest?"_ the Shadow squealed once it saw him, not that Adachi could tell where exactly it was looking at.  _"I hope you'll tip better than the last crowd!"_

"Hide, Teddie!" Adachi yelped, jumping into the seats as the Shadow pulled a pole from the stage, stabbing at the ground where he had been standing.  Teddie wobbled nervously, shuffling over to where Kanji and Naoto were and trying to get them to wake up.

Adachi ended up landing precariously on a seat, tottering slightly before holding his hand out for his Persona.  Izanagi appeared as always, shooting toward the Shadow and sweeping his blade low, though the Shadow grabbed one of her poles and nimbly spun out of the way.  She wrapped her leg around one, dangling upside down as she shook a finger at them, reprimanding.

_"Sir, please!  Guests should not touch the dancers!"_

Some strange green beam swept over the room, rolling over Izanagi and Adachi both.  The detective let out an annoyed noise, motioning with a hand and having his Persona shoot lightning at the Shadow.  She dodged as if she already knew it was coming, pulling one of her poles out of the ground again.  A beam of green shot out, catching Izanagi in a burst of wind that felt more like lava had been dumped over Adachi's skin.  He screamed in pain, tumbling off his perch on the chair and clutching at his chest.  Dammit, that hurt…!

Something in front of him stirred, and a faint noise of surprise came just as he glanced around to see Saki through the chairs.

"Adachi…?"

Adachi shot her a look, before struggling to his feet, Izanagi in a similar state of pain in the aisle.  They were not the only ones trying to pull themselves together, as he caught sight of movement on the stage.

Uh oh.

"Where am I…?" Rise murmured as she pulled herself up, shaking her head, before looking up to see her psychedelic Shadow.  She let out a scream of surprise as the giant stripper descended from her pole, yanking it out of the ground.

 _"Why aren't you dead yet, you eye sore!?"_ the Shadow bellowed, moving to take a swing at her.  Adachi was yelling obscenities in his mind, flinging his hand out as Izanagi shot forward, intercepting the pole before it could get close.  Metal on metal _clanged_ and sparked loudly across the stage as Izanagi forced the stripper back, and the detective tried to take in the whole scene.  This was not good, if Rise stayed there, she would be caught in the crossfire… not that he cared, but…

Adachi wanted to scream; his morals were clashing with how much he hated all this stupid shit.

"Teddie!" he called out, not bothering to look over to the bear as he let out a squeak.  "Grab Kujikawa and run!  Get outta here!"

"B-but sensei…?" Teddie whimpered, looking torn.  He was clearly scared; the Shadow was strong and something that was one hell of a sight to behold, but he did not want to abandon the others, especially Adachi.  He made a face, really wanting to be touched by the bear's loyalty, but at the same time, he could not let him get caught up in this mess too.

"Teddie, _listen to me!"_ he shouted at him, only to let out a pained noise, clutching at his chest as the Shadow took a major league swing and struck Izanagi.  The stripper spun the pole around with ease, holding it like a canon and letting loose with another blast of wind magic that sent his Persona flying against the wall and Adachi dropping to the ground.  It felt like his brain had been shut off, and he just could not even twitch without being in pain.

 _"Sensei!"_ Teddie wailed, and Adachi could hear his feet squeaking toward him, even as he felt like he was going to black out from the pain.  Dammit, that bear really did not know how to listen.

"Stop…!" Rise cried, forcing herself to her feet.  She looked damn exhausted, but she was still standing somehow.  "Please, stop it!  Don't hurt them!"

 _"I'll do whatever I want,"_ the Shadow replied, grabbing a different pole and swinging around on it, before yanking it out of the ground and clamping it onto the one she was already holding.  _"This is me.  Everyone's eyes are on me now, not you!"_

The Shadow grabbed pole after pole, with Rise jumping off of the stage to get out of her way.  She ran over to Adachi, and he could feel her fingers trembling from exhaustion as she checked on him, making sure he was still breathing.  Meanwhile, once the Shadow had all the poles gathered and joined, she leveled it on the two of them, and energy began to charge around it like it was one massive beam canon.  Adachi groaned as he saw what was coming, trying to force himself back up, but he was too spent; that last hit had him in an agony he never felt before.

 _"Time for the big finish!"_ the Shadow bellowed, before letting out a confused noise.

Adachi looked up, wondering why the hell they had not been blasted yet, only to see Teddie of all people standing before the two of them protectively.  He was trembling so hard it looked like he was wobbling in place, his fur standing on end as he squeaked back and forth.

"…ah, why I am coming to the front?" he asked, like he did not even realize he moved.  Adachi let out an exasperated noise, wanting to say something, but the Shadow was letting out an annoyed screech.

 _"Fine, you wanna be first?"_ she asked, leveling the cannon right at Teddie.  _"You sure can be, and then I'll deal with the rest of them!"_

Teddie let out a growl, balling up his little hands.  "I'm not gonna let you hurt sensei!  I'm not gonna let you hurt anyone else!  I'm not gonna be left all alone again 'cause of you!"

Adachi never thought he would be able to see someone so determined that the energy from it burst out of them like a hot air balloon losing pressure, but he got to see it with Teddie.  He was practically _glowing_ in his need to protect them from the Shadow, and at first the stripper hesitated to fire, not sure what was going on either.  She let out another screech after a moment, before letting her pole cannon loose, a stream of elements shooting out at the bear all at once.  Teddie just ran _straight for it,_ and Adachi yelled obscenities at the stupid overgrown plush toy, before everything got too bright for him to see and too loud for him to hear.

It felt like forever before the noise and the light finally died away, and Adachi grunted, realizing Rise had thrown herself over him.  He shifted, and she pulled away, looking no worse for wear than she had a few minutes ago.  For a moment they just stared at each other, as if confirming that they were in fact alive, before turning toward the stage.

The massive colorful Shadow was gone, back to looking like Rise herself, only in a golden bikini.  She was laying spread out on the stage, looking dizzy, and before the stage…  Adachi did not know what to make of it.  He had been half hoping that someone human-shaped was inside that ridiculous bear suit, but there was no way that could be possible now.  Teddie was as flat as a pancake – flatter, possibly – flopping around uselessly on the floor.

"Sensei…?" he squeaked, sounding like he looked.  With Rise's help, Adachi managed to get to his feet, shuffling over to the bear.

"…you look like hell, Teddie," he said, flopping down on the ground next to him and trying to help him up.  Teddie's arms flopped around, and he panicked once he saw himself.

"M-my fur!" he wailed.  "My beautiful fur!"

Adachi let out an exasperated noise.  "I think that's the least of your worries…"

He shook his head, catching Rise looking up at the stage out of the corner of his eye.  She turned to meet his gaze, before shaking her head.

"You're that detective, aren't you?" she asked softly.  "I’m sorry, this is all my fault, isn't it?"

Adachi glanced back to where Saki was pulling herself up, trying to see if Yukiko was okay, while Shirogane was doing the same with Kanji.  He had the bite back the urge to say that yes, yes it was all her fault.  When he turned his gaze back to her, he could not find the heart to say it anyway.  She was kinda cute, for a fifteen year old.

"Well, we all have sides of ourselves we're not proud of," he said instead, really wanting to bang his head against something.

She smiled sadly.  "That's… the problem, I think," she said softly, before turning back to her Shadow.  For a moment, she hesitated, before letting out a soft breath.  "I'm sorry; I tried to deny so much that you existed, but that really wasn't the problem.  I wanted to know who the 'real me' was, but it wasn't there to be found.  There is no real me."

Teddie let out a faint noise, looking away, like he was trying to process what she said.  Adachi spared him a glance, but did not think much of it.

"You, me, Risette; you were all born from me," Rise finished as a warm smile came to her Shadow's face.  "You're all me."

The Shadow disappeared in a rush of blue, replaced by an elegant woman with a satellite dish for a head, before turning into an Arcana card with a heart on it.  Rise closed her eyes as it became a part of her, wobbling unsteadily and falling to her knees a moment later.  She looked exceptionally exhausted, and Adachi had to wonder how the hell she even managed to stand for as long as she did.  He shuffled away from Teddie, managing to wobble back to his feet and over to her.

She smiled brightly up at him as he put a hand on her shoulder, and it took Adachi a moment to realize that she probably did not know she did not have to do that; that she did not need to pretend she was okay.  He stood there awkwardly, at a loss as to what even to say to that, and feeling like a bit of an ass for judging her so hard.

Not that he would ever say that out loud.

He reached over to help her back up, when he heard a faint squeak.  Adachi's head snapped up, staring at Teddie as he wobbled unsteadily on his feet.  Something felt… weird, extremely off, like there was something monstrous lingering on the fringes of his perception.

"There's no… real me…?" Teddie murmured faintly.

Suddenly, Rise grabbed Adachi's arm, holding him tight.  "Something's wrong," she murmured.  "It feels like something's coming out of him."

Adachi cast her a worried look; if she was pushing her limits and could sense that much, then there had to be something bad coming their way.  He moved to turn back to Teddie, to try and calm him down, when he caught sight of Saki.  She was looking past them, up at the stage, and at that moment, Adachi felt something dark and twisted _looming_ behind him, and his stomach hit his shoes.  Oh god… he really did not want to have to turn around…

_"Real?  Me?  Such foolishness…"_

It felt like ice suddenly frosted over Adachi's shoulders, and he half turned, only to immediately regret doing so.  His mouth hung open at the larger version of Teddie that stood behind them on the stage, like something out of a cheesy horror flick.  Its yellow eyes were _wide_ on its face and deep set, looking like it was staring out at them across a void.  The real Teddie turned around at that moment at let out a terrified scream, essentially voicing what everyone conscious wanted to do.  Adachi grabbed Rise by the arm, pulling her back as what looked like black fog flooded down from the stage.

_"The truth is unattainable… it will always be shrouded in fog.  Though you reach through the murk and the gloom to grasp it, it will forever be beyond your reach.  So what is the sense in yearning for the truth? Live in blissful ignorance… it is a much smarter way to exist."_

Adachi stared, eyes wide in disbelief; what was going on?  This did not feel like any of the other Shadows they had encountered before.  It was not spouting anything that sounded like something Teddie would keep to himself, and glancing back, Teddie even looked overwhelmingly confused, not sure how to react to what his duplicate was saying.  The Shadow seemed to relish in their confusion, its thin mouth opening wide in a gleeful death smile as the fog thickened around them, making it impossible to see even with the glasses.

_"Seekers of Truth… come.  Find the truth in your death."_

A giant clawed hand suddenly tore through the fog, shoving it away like a curtain to reveal the stage had collapsed, and a monstrosity of Teddie was clinging to the edge of the void it collapsed into.  It was hideously misshapen and deformed, with a burned face that was cracked away, revealing nothing but emptiness with purple and blue swirled eyes dangling from within.

Both Adachi and Rise screamed, backpedaling away from the stage as fast as they could while clinging to each other, and nearly tripping over the flattened Teddie in the process.  The detective paused, glancing around; Kanji and Yukiko were still knocked out, and Saki and Shirogane were in no shape to be doing any kind of fighting.  Just how the hell were they supposed to beat this thing?!

"This is my fault… the poor bear," Rise murmured, before glancing up at Adachi.  "We have to fight, don't we?  Please, let me do what I can."

Adachi looked down at her in mute shock.  She looked like she was going to collapse any second, and she still wanted to fight?  She had to be off her rocker… but by the look of things, there was no way they were going to be able to escape from this thing.  The Shadow Teddie was already reaching out with a claw, nails sharp and gritty as it dug into the row of seats before it, sending Saki fumbling to get away.  He looked down to her again, at a loss; it really did not look like they had a choice.

"Don't pass out on me," he said, turning around to call out to Izanagi.  His Persona pulled himself up, looking worse for wear from the beating he took, but still came to his side.

Rise wobbled where she stood, not looking very encouraging, before holding her hands before her like she was praying.  Her Arcana came to her immediately.

"Come, _Himiko!"_

The card shattered, and the satellite headed woman appeared again.  She held her hands up, and the satellite broke apart, revealing a darkened face underneath as it formed a crown instead.  Rise reached up, and her Persona handed her the point of the dish, revealing a microphone on the other end of it as speakers detached from either side, hovering around her.  Adachi just stared, at a loss for words; after seeing the Persona before, he thought for sure that she would be more support – healing spells, like Yukiko's.  He was not expecting _that._

"I can fight too," Rise said at his look, holding the microphone tight in her grasp.  "I'm not just going to sit back while everyone's hurt because of me!"

Adachi stared for a moment more, before he just shook his head; whatever, he could not afford to be choosy right now.  The nightmare bear raised a claw, and spears of ice shot out at the two of them, forcing them to split or be impaled.  Rise recovered first, clutching to her microphone and for a moment she looked uncertain, like this was just her returning to the stage and not fighting.  She let out a determined noise, raising a hand.

"Are you ready!?" she crowed into the microphone, and the speakers from Himiko shot out to surround the Shadow.  _"Let's go!"_

The sound of her voice vibrated out of the speakers, loud enough that the sound waves could actually be _seen_ hitting the bear from all angles.  It let out a groan as it ducked back into its void in pain as Adachi grinned, shaking his head.  Okay, he liked her; she was annoying, but he liked her.

_"Izanagi!"_

The warrior Persona shot out, sword lashing out to strike at the bear's claws.  He managed to knock one claw off the edge, but the Shadow recovered quickly, taking a swipe at Izanagi that he just barely managed to avoid.  Adachi winced at the close call as his Persona spun around, unleashing lightning in retaliation, but it seemed to barely phase it.

"Damn, we're not doing much," he hissed.  "Any ideas?"

Rise bit her lip, clearly thinking on her feet.  It was too much to magically hope she would be able to just rip out her Persona and cut loose right off the bat, and it felt like forever before her face lit up with an idea.  Unfortunately, that gave the nightmare bear plenty of time to pull itself together and take a swipe at them, forcing the two of them to split and run into the rows of chairs.  Adachi near tripped over Naoto in the process, and she weakly flung her arms out to catch him, pushing him flat on his feet.  He glanced down at her, taking in her bruised face and bloody clothes, before letting out an irritable noise.

He did not get a chance to make a comment however; Rise's speakers were surrounding his Persona, and for a moment it looked like Izanagi was glowing, before the speakers broke off again.

"Mr. Detective!" she called from the other end of the room.  "Try to hit him now!"

He did not know what she did, but when Adachi had Izanagi cast lightning on the bear again, it actually seemed to have an effect.  Streaks of black left their mark along one of its arms, forcing it to let go of the ground and dip slightly back into the void.

"That's more like it!  Don't let up on 'em, Izanagi!"

His Persona lashed out at the Shadow again and again, driving the bear back but not quite able to get it to let go of the ground.  It raised a paw in irritation, taking a furious swipe at Izanagi and sending the warrior flying head over heels into the chairs.  Adachi grunted, his vision wavering as he grabbed a chair in front of him to steady himself; he could not take another hit like that.  If he did, he would definitely be out for the count, and then they would be screwed.

Rise's speakers surrounded the bear, and she shouted into her microphone as loud as she could, just before the Shadow could take another swipe at them.  As it reared back in pain, Adachi caught a faint… glimmer?  Whatever it was, it was something stuck deep inside the void of the bear's face.  He glanced over at Izanagi, and the Persona was struggling to his feet, returning his gaze.  Even through the mask, it was almost like Adachi could see how worn out his Persona was.

"C'mon, Izanagi," he said, gesturing toward the glimmering thing inside the nightmare bear.  "One more go!"

The Persona sprang into action, soaring through the air, past the bear's claws and straight through its open face.  He could see his Persona's sword being raised, before slamming down into something so hard, sparks flew up around it.  The nightmare bear reared back, its decaying face crumbling away as the vacant purple and blue eyes fell into the void.  Izanagi sprang away just as the Shadow exploded into darkness, leaving the creepy, yellow eyed creature it had started out as behind.

Adachi heard a squeak from just behind him, and he turned to see Teddie slipping out from his hiding space, still flat as a pancake.  He wavered unsteadily at his feet, glancing over at the detective.  He let out a sigh, allowing himself to collapse against a chair, before he nodded to the bear.  It was not like he really needed to say anything; Teddie had seen this all before.  He knew what to do.

Teddie squeaked up toward the stage, staring up at the terrifying Shadow for a moment.

"I've thought a lot… that maybe there really isn't an answer to who I am," he began softly.  "I'm just here, and that's all the answer I'm going to get."

He paused, balling his flattened fists up.  "But… at least I'm not alone anymore!  I've got sensei, and everyone!  We may not always agree on stuff, but we're together.  That's all that matters to me!"

The Shadow stared at him, not even letting out a sound as it disappeared in a rush of blue, forming into what looked like a giant round canister in a cape, holding a tomahawk missile high over its head, before turning into a card with a star on it and joining with Teddie.  He let out a faint squeak as he stared at his hands, murmuring about how he got a Persona too, but they did not have long to dwell on it.  A faint thump came from the other side of the room, and both Adachi and Teddie snapped around to see that Rise had fallen over, unable to keep standing or keep her Persona out in her exhaustion.

Adachi let out a breath, glancing around to see that Yukiko and Kanji were finally stirring, before his eyes fell on Teddie again.  The bear met his gaze, and the two of them let out a sheepish chuckle at once.

~.oOOo.~

"Ah, you're here again."

Adachi pulled his tired gaze from the window in the hallway outside the rooms the others were getting checked on in.  It was the nurse he had spoken to briefly the last time he was there, and he managed a tired smile for those eyes that seemed to be trying to undress him.  He was not in the mood for something like that, and he wanted to punch something, because he would have so gone for an ice cold beer and a hot woman in his bed right after how hellish his day off turned.  Sayoko let out a faint noise at that, looking like she was going to reach out and stroke his cheek, but managed to resist the urge.

"Mm, you look like you could use a stay in the hospital yourself," she said, peering at him a little closer, though somehow he got the feeling she had a different kind of stay in mind.  "What do you say, detective?  Would you like to check in?"

Oh boy did he.

"Ah… thanks, but I'd rather check on the others," he forced himself to say instead, crying on the inside.  She even looked disappointed that he chose the "right" thing to do, but it was only a moment, and that sly smile was back on her face.

"It seems Konishi is awake right now," she reported after consulting her clipboard.  "You could visit her now."

"Thanks," he muttered, really wanting to say he rather visit the nurse in an empty hospital room.  Damn stupid kids, stupid murder case, stupid, stupid…

Saki was sitting up in bed when Adachi came into the room, looking tired and worn down, but other than being peppered with bandages and medical wrap, she seemed to be all right.  She looked up when he entered the room, watching him silently as he leaned against the door, not bothering to approach her.

"…you actually came," she said after a moment, like it was some miracle he showed up.

Adachi frowned hard at that, pushing himself off the door.  "Yeah… and what do you think would have happened if I didn't?"

Saki did not have anything to say to that, so he pressed forward, "You think I would'a enjoyed seeing rescue crews prying down five bodies from utility poles?  That would have made a cheerful fucking report, not to mention how much it would screw over the investigation with _more_ bodies than normal suddenly showed up—!"

He cut himself off as his cell phone went off.  Adachi snapped it up, his expression turning grim as he listened to the person on the other side.  He muttered that he would be there in a moment, before he snapped the phone closed again, fixing Saki with a hard look.

"Looks like another body was found," he explained, his tone bitter as he stabbed a finger in her direction.  "Stay out of this from now on.  This is too damn dangerous for kids."

"And what am I supposed to do?" Saki finally demanded, clenching the hospital bed sheet, shaking all over.

"I don't know; stay home, study, be a good student," Adachi snapped.  She could not figure that out for herself?!  "That's what kids are supposed to do, right?  Study hard and get into a good college so they can have everything they ever wanted in life, right?!"

His voice sounded a little strained at the last part, and she stared at him curiously, but he did not give her a chance to comment on it.  He turned and left immediately, shoving his hands in his pockets as he let the door slam shut behind him.  Stupid… she would still dive right back into the TV, even with what just happened.  Why the hell would _anyone_ want to keep going back to that crazy place?!

"So, you're going to keep pushing us away, aren't you?"

Adachi near groaned at the new voice, pinching the bridge of his nose.  "Aren't you still supposed to be unconscious, Shirogane?" he grumbled, half wishing she would just stay unconscious.

The bitty detective did not even bother to grace that with a response, pushing herself off of the wall she was leaning against.  She wobbled slightly, but managed to keep her balance; good thing, because Adachi was not about to go diving to help her stay upright.

"You know this situation was coming, Adachi-san," she stated, almost sounding like she was blaming him for them getting hurt.  He stared at her in numb surprise; did she miss the whole part where he dived in on his day off to save their asses?!  "Your lack of care for the reality of the situation, as impossible as it is, has put the entire team on a crutch."

Adachi could not keep the glare off his face; oh, she just _knew_ how to press his buttons.  _"This_ is not a team.  _This_ is an autopsy report waiting to happen," he snapped back at her.  "You kids are just throwing yourselves into that place without a plan, without knowing what to expect, and guess what?  You nearly got yourselves killed for it!  And what… I'm supposed to be the leader of this walking disaster?  Hell no; I didn't want to sign up for this from the start."

He practically shoved her out of his way, fully intending to storm out of the hospital and never look back at these clowns.  Shirogane stumbled, having to smack her hand against the wall to keep herself upright.  She glared at his retreating back, finger nails digging into the wall.

"So you're just going to run away?" she shot back at him hotly.  "Like you've run away from the reality of what you did in the city?"

Adachi stopped dead at that, glaring at her over his shoulder.

"I'm a damn detective," he snapped.  "I do what I have to do, and I don't need to justify it to some damn loudmouthed _brat."_

He stormed off at that, missing Shirogane actually punch at the wall in her frustration at his attitude.

~.oOOo.~

The fog hung thickly over the streets that night, making it impossible to see anything.  Some long distance down the road, the blinking lights of rescue crews could be seen, working to remove a body from where it was strung up, dangling from the railing surrounding a building's water tower.  Tired detectives, some in casual wear, watched on, with one in particular looking exceptionally sour at the whole display.  He knew something about the situation the others did not, but he could not say without exposing himself to all that he had been observed doing until now.

Assuming he continued.

That was the problem; how could judgment be fair, if one representative was not fulfilling his designated role?  Even if it was not his to have, all pawns needed to be playing their parts; less than that would never do.

_I will need your assistance…_

Someone stepped out of the fog then, coming up to the hill overlooking the activities of the work crews and stopping, reaching up to twirl a platted pig tail around her finger as she watched them silently.


	21. Chapter Sixteen – Resolve

Mayumi Yamano.

Adachi remembered hearing her name not long after arriving in Inaba.  She had been in an illicit affair with now former city council secretary Taro Namatame, and removed from her position as a reporter for Eye News.  The scandal had been a pretty big deal at the time, to the point where Yamano needed a police guard while she stayed at the Amagi Inn.  That had been hard to forget; the conversation about how much of an entitled bitch she was still rang over in his head.  Everyone had been pretty relieved when she left to live with her parents, and the whole affair was forgotten about once the murders began.

And now she was dead.

He tapped his fingers against his desk as he poured over the crime scene photos, trying to think.  Not a damn thing in front of him made any sort of sense, and the dread that this may have been a copy cat killing was starting to pool in his stomach.  Nothing in the scene matched what they had seen so far in this crazy case; she had been found at nine in the evening, just after the fog started to roll in, and was dangling from the water tower railing of a building.  The ME had found clear blunt force trauma to the head, along with bruising that was consistent with a fall, whereas previous bodies had not shown any kind of cause of death.  Lab results had yet to be completed, but he had a sinking feeling that whatever DNA they managed to get from under her fingernails would match up with someone, where no trace had been left on the other victims.

There was no way that Yamano had ever been in the television, but Adachi could not say she was not part of the actual case without putting suspicion on himself.  He sat back in his seat, watching the other detectives practically buzzing, excited that their murderer, "finally made a mistake," and wanting to scream at all of them.  Why the hell did he have to work with such idiots?

After a moment, he finally stood up, drawing a curious gaze from Dojima.

"Where are you going?" he asked.

"Patrolling."

Dojima's head snapped up at that, looking at Adachi like he suddenly mutated into a monster, not that he could blame his partner.  He was less than enthusiastic when it came to patrolling; willingly submitting himself to it, especially in the current heat wave, was extremely out of character for him.  Adachi just let out a sigh, shaking his head.

"I need to get away from this," he grumbled, motioning toward their coworkers, before heading away from his desk.  He could feel Dojima's eyes on him as he left the office, and he had a feeling his partner felt the same way as he did about the most recent development.

Adachi left his poor abused clunker behind at the station, deciding to actually walk through the small town, though largely because he was not sure how much more abuse his car could take.  The engine had started making a funny noise since he had to drive to the tofu shop, and he was not willing to risk any new sounds it could come up with if it was not necessary.  Besides, the walk gave him an excuse to not have to report into the station until the end of his shift, which was just fine by him.

He had his hands stuffed in his pockets as he made his way down now familiar streets, taking in the people around him.  With a fresh new murder, most people had elected to stay indoors, though what few people were milling around would give him a wave, used to the sight of him.  Adachi managed a wave and his signature goofy grin, though maybe the fake cheerfulness was a little more forced than usual.  He was so done with everything in this hillbilly town; the sooner he got back to the city, the better he would feel.

After a few blocks of waving and smiling, he found himself lost in the motions and his own thoughts; so much so that when he rounded the next corner he did not see the person coming from the other direction until they collided.  A yelp escaped from the both of them, and Adachi stumbled back as the person he ran into fell over.

"A-ah!  Sorry, sorry!" he fumbled quickly to apologize.  "Are you—?"

He cut himself off, words leaving him completely.  The person was pushing themselves up, rubbing at their rear end, their legs spread out awkwardly and barely hiding what was under their school girl skirt, despite the fact that it was meant to have ended below the knees.  A bag had fallen at their side, and the person glanced up at Adachi as his mouth worked, pushing grey bangs out of their face with their other hand.

"…Seito?" the detective finally squeaked, really hoping he was wrong.

The person let their hands drop to the pavement, giving him a bland look that was much more expressive than the teen in question, despite the fact that it did not deviate much from a lineface.

"Do I really look _that_ much like my brother?" the most definitely female version of Dojima's nephew shot back at him.  Adachi let out an awkward noise, just standing there as he tried to process that for a good minute, before she let out a faint noise.  "Aren't you going to help me up?"

"Ah, right!" he squeaked, reaching for her hand.  She clasped onto it, pulling herself to her feet with his help, before ducking down to collect her bag.  Adachi had to keep staring for a long moment, not sure what to even say.  "Uh… I didn't know Dojima-san had a niece too…"

She busily brushed herself off, not really looking at him.  "My family doesn't talk about me much," she replied absently.  "I've only just arrived in Inaba."

She finally finished, flipping a plated pigtail over her shoulder.  "Souzen Seiki," she introduced, looking him up and down.  "…you must be my uncle's dumbass partner."

Adachi felt like she may as well have just stabbed him in the head with that comment.  "Dumbass", hunh?  He wondered if that was the word Dojima used to describe him when he was not around… not that he used much better to describe him when he _was_ around.

"Ah… yeah… Adachi Tohru," he muttered, though that only drew what might have been a smirk out of her, but it was hard to tell.  She was definitely more expressive and talkative compared to her brother, but she still seemed to default to the same perfect poker face.  He never wanted to play either of these kids at cards.  _Ever._

"Are you busy?" she asked, leaning over a bit to look directly up at his face.  He leaned back in response, trying to maintain the personal space bubble she seemed intent on invading.

"Ah… just patrolling."

Seiki let out a knowing noise.  "Hmm… keeping an eye out for evil murderers?" she asked, but did not give him a chance to answer as she suddenly latched onto his arm.  Adachi near jumped out of his skin, but she held him fast.  "Good, you can be a gentleman and escort me."

The detective fumbled, trying uselessly to get her to let go.  "H-hey, I'm working!"

"So?" she replied.  "You can't have a girl on your arm while you're walking around town?"

Adachi tried to find something to say, but he was completely dry on anything that would not make him look like an ass.  He deflated after a moment, finally stuffing his free hand in his pocket; well, if she was Dojima's niece, he did not think it would be that big of a deal.  He could probably use his patrol time to both show her around and keep an eye out, and not get into trouble.

Or maybe he could just not tell Dojima that he was essentially goofing off.  It was not like it would be the first time.

He continued his route, ignoring the fact that he was getting weird looks as Seiki fired off questions at a rapid fire rate, with him doing his best to answer her.  She was mostly asking him about the town, though the occasional question about her brother popped up.  Unfortunately there was not much he could do to help her there; Seito was so quiet that he barely had any kind of read on the kid.  After a handful of, "I don't knows," she frowned bitterly, falling quite for a moment.

"Do you just not try to reach out to anyone?" she asked.

"Hunh?" he replied, looking at her like she grew another head.

"You heard me," she answered, though her tone was not as malicious sounding as her words.  "You don't seem like you reach out to anyone.  You don't know anything."

Adachi blew out a sigh.  "…guess I just mostly want to be left alone here."

Seiki looked up at him curiously, holding his arm a little tighter.  "Don't you like it here?"

He snorted at that; what a question.  "Not really.  I'm only here because of work."

She fell silent for a moment, and for that blissful moment, Adachi thought she had finally given up on her questions.

"So quit."

He stopped dead at that, staring down at her like she grew another head.  She returned his gaze with the usual neutral expression, not the least bit bothered by the fact that she had just said something crazy.

"What?" she asked.  "If where you are makes you unhappy, then quit.  Leave.  It's not like you can't pick up something else, right?"

Adachi let out an exasperated noise.  "It's not that simple…"

"Why?"

He stared at her, trying to find some way to answer that.  Why?  He wanted to be a cop for the longest time; it was his excuse to be able to carry and use a gun, as lame of a reason as that was.  Beyond that, he never really gave much thought to why he continued to put up with the crap he did.  While Dojima was a good guy (he fed him sushi and gave him a tie, after all), the rest of his coworkers were morons of the highest level.  He thought back to that morning, and how they were all excited about finally getting a new break in the case, and made a face; he sure as hell did not stick around for that crap.

So why not just quit?  The thought echoed in his head over and over, and he could not really find an answer as to why, other than he just could not picture himself being anything more or less than what he was now, especially after all the work it took him to reach rock bottom.  He finally shrugged, settling with that as a reason.

"It's just what I do," he finally answered her.

Seiki let out an amused noise, her lips twitching into a faint smile.  "Because only you can do it?"

"Well, yeah," Adachi replied, puffing out his chest.  "I'm the smartest guy on the force."

She stared at him for a moment, before she burst out laughing.  "No wonder uncle calls you a dumbass."

Another exasperated noise escaped from the detective, but she was not paying attention to him anymore.  She turned, looking down the street, only to let out a faint sigh.

"Oh, they're all the way out here too, hunh?"

Adachi looked up, only to see that Junes was just down the street.  He made a face, not really in the mood to go to the super store.  Saki and the others were probably out of the hospital by now, which meant there was a high chance they were having one of their little pow-wows at the food court; not exactly something he wanted the displeasure of viewing, even if he did have the security of escorting his partner's niece around.

"I should get going back to the house," Seiki spoke up after a moment, glancing at the watch on her wrist, before offering another faint smile to Adachi.  "It's been fun.  Let's do this again."

"Ah…" Adachi began, hesitating a moment.  For all her questions, he… had really enjoyed her company.  It was nice to have someone around that actually listened to what he had to say, and made _him_ think for once.  After a moment, he finally returned her smile with a lopsided one of his own.  "Yeah… definitely."

The expression on her face did not change, but her eyes seemed to make her smile broader as she slung her school bag over her shoulder, giving him an absent wave as she turned down the street corner.  He stood there for a long moment, scratching the side of his face; she looked a lot like her brother, and kind of had the same amount of expression, but at the same time she was so… open.  It was kind of refreshing, compared to everyone else he had been around lately.  Maybe he should hang around Seito more too; he was probably the same way once he came out of his shy shell.

"Adachi-san."

And good mood instantly ruined.

Adachi's face screwed up into a comical mix of irritation, rage, and exasperation at Shirogane's voice coming from behind him.  He had to force himself to turn around, meeting the weird look she was giving him, like there was something wrong with _him._ Was it really so impossible for him to be walking around with a cute teenage girl on his arm?  Fine, sure; at his age, teenaged was a little too young, but it was not impossible!

"What do you want, Shirogane?" he grumbled, just not in the mood to deal with her again.

"I was not finished with our conversation in the hospital," she replied, getting him to roll his eyes.

"That's funny, I was."

He tried to move away, but she shot into his path, cutting him off before he could get very far.

"You know the latest murder is a copycat," she stated.  "You know that the police are going to make an arrest, and blame all the murders on him, while the real culprit goes free."

"Yeah, and I can't say _why_ I know that either," he snapped back at her, not caring how many people saw him lose his temper, or how many saw the sneer creeping onto his face.  "But that's a police problem.  You're censored, remember?  Stay out of this case like a good play detective."

He got the distinct pleasure of seeing Shirogane's face turn sheet white in anger, happy to know he could press her buttons as hard as she could press his.  Any retort she had ready for him was cut off as she looked past him, seeing someone that made her back off really fast.  He almost got the chance to ask her what the hell her problem was, when said problem answered for her.

_"Adachi!"_

Saved by Dojima.  Adachi flinched slightly at the shout, turning to his partner to see an annoyed look on his face.

"What are you doing just hanging around here?" he asked, ignoring Shirogane for the moment and keeping his focus on him.

Adachi rubbed at the back of his neck, answering without thinking, "Oh, I was escorting your niece around, and—"

He cut himself off as a… strange sort of look came to Dojima's face.  He could not quite describe it; it was like a mix between being in pain and cold, brutal rage.  His partner was silent for a long moment, and Adachi was so afraid of the inevitable explosion, that he did not even notice the concerned look that Shirogane was giving him.

"Is that supposed to be some kind of joke?" Dojima finally asked, his voice frigid cold.

Adachi backed away, nearly bumping into Shirogane in the process.  "Ah… s-sorry—" he fumbled, cutting himself off when his stomach grumbled irritably at him.  "O-oh, it's lunch time!  I'll get back to patrolling in a moment!"

He took that opportunity to bolt down the street, feeling his partner's frigid gaze following him all the way.

~.oOOo.~

Rise rested back on her hospital bed, looking out at the window to watch the birds gathered on the outside rail, huddling together like a loving couple.  She smiled faintly at the sight of it, only to have her attention drawn away when a knock came on the door.  It slid open slowly, and a familiar pair of grey eyes peered in shyly at her.  The sight of it had her beaming in the next moment.

"Seito-kun," she said happily, "come in!"

Seito shuffled in after a moment, as straight faced as the last time she saw him, despite the fact that his cheeks looked a little pink.  He was clutching a small box of chocolates and a flower in front of him, as if he had smuggled both past any nurses that may have been on patrol.

"I heard you were in the hospital, so I got you something," he said softly, closing the door behind him before approaching her bed and offering the gifts to her.  Her smile brightened as she accepted them, sighing fondly as the scent of the flower drifted over her.

"That's so sweet," she replied, getting his face to turn even pinker, despite not changing expression.  He stared down at his feet, shuffling them absently back and forth, like he was not sure how to respond to her comment.

"…I'm glad you're okay," he mumbled finally, and Rise could not help but laugh.  She reached out to him, tilting his head up so he could look at her.

"You can look at me, you know," she said fondly.  "If it wasn't for your warning, I don't think I would have been able to hang in there as well as I did, so… thank you."

A moment passed, before the barest of smiles crept onto his face, and Rise could not help but sigh at how adorable he was.  She leaned back on her bed, drumming her fingers on the arm rest thoughtfully.

"Well… I suppose this means I owe you one…" she continued, a thoughtful look coming to her face.  He blinked at her curiously, before she suddenly held up a finger, coming close to poking him.  "How about… one date?"

Rise was rewarded with that pink tint coming back to Seito's face.  "A-a date?"

She almost squealed; aw, he squeaked at her!  He needed to stop being so cute, or she may need to kiss him right on the spot.

"Mmhmm!  One date," she repeated.  "That's good compensation for warning me like that, right?"

Seito stared for a moment, before looking away, shuffling his feet shyly.  "I-I guess so…" he mumbled faintly, and Rise swore she saw his ears starting to turn red.  She had a feeling already that it was going to be more than just _one_ date for him.

~.oOOo.~ 

It never seemed to fail; even on her days off, Saki usually found herself at Junes.  Usually it was because the group was trying to coordinate together about the case, or getting together so they could all sneak into the police station and get some training in the TV.  Today, however, she found herself there just for the sake of being there; the various customers milling about taking care of their chores was much more enjoyable company than her parents or neighbors at the moment.  She was the traitor to them, the one that had gone off to work for the super store and left their family business to rot; and now with her brother dead, there would be no one to continue running the store when her parents wanted to retire.

Every time they ignored her presence, every time they had an offhand comment for her, it was just another reminder of how they had failed to save Naoki, and all the others that died.

Saki clutched at her bag as she came out into the food court, feeling like her world was tumbling apart at the cracks.  She thought they were doing the right thing by pursuing the murderer, by trying to save the people that ended up on the Midnight Channel, but with each new win, they had another crippling loss.  Now with how close they had come to dying in Rise's dungeon… now she was not so sure if what they were trying to do was the right thing.

She let out a breath, before looking up toward the food stands; she had been hoping to maybe find relief in a meal, but instead she caught sight of a head of messy brown hair.  Her heart leapt up into her throat, and for a brief moment, Saki almost wanted to believe that everything over the last few months had just been a bad dream.  The person turned then… only to reveal that it was an older face behind that head of hair, looking tired and weary as he walked away with his own plate of food.

Saki hesitated a moment, clutching her bag tighter, before darting toward the man.

"Um… Hanamura-san?" she asked, getting him to stop and turn toward her.  It took Yosuke's father a moment, but then his face lit up slightly in recognition.

"Ah, you're Konishi Saki-chan, correct?" he asked, a faint smile coming to his face.  "My son spoke about you often."

Something weird hit Saki in the chest at that, but she ignored it, instead reaching into her bag.

"I know this… is a bit sudden, but this was um… given to me by the police before," she said, pulling out the broken headphones she had found in the ruined Junes in the TV world.  "I think they meant to give these to you…"

Mr. Hanamura gazed at the headphones, that weary look coming back to his face.  "Ah… Yosuke-kun had saved up for those things for months," he murmured faintly.  "He said they were perfect for listening to English music on, like there's any difference in sound from Japanese CDs." He chuckled, shaking his head.  "It's okay… please keep them.  We've already stored away his things, I…"

He paused again, a faint smile forcing its way onto his face.  "He was so fond of you, I think he'd like you to keep something of him anyway.  Excuse me."

Saki found herself staring after him, long after he had disappeared into the crowds on his way toward the employee break room, before finally turning her eyes toward the headphones in her hand.  Really, she should just throw them away; they were broken, after all, and it was not like she actually liked Hanamura…  He had been such an idiot, so blind by his crush on her that he could not figure out the feeling was not mutual.

So why the heck was it so hard to just throw them in the trash?

She let out an annoyed noise, stuffing the headphones back in her bag instead.

~.oOOo.~ 

She wanted revenge.

Yukiko had kept quiet about her feelings for the longest time, but it did not change the fact that they were there, that she fully accepted and acknowledged the fact that she wanted the person that murdered her best friend to pay.  She did not want the others to know that someone like her would think such things, however; it would be a distraction, more of one than they already had to deal with.  As it was, she had trouble focusing in battle, wanting so much to plow through her enemies and get to the person responsible, rather than take the time to look at the facts.

Maybe Adachi was right; maybe they were too young to deal with this sort of responsibility.

She let out a faint sigh, pausing her walk through the central shopping district as the depressing thought hit her hard.  If she could not be responsible enough to bring Chie's killer to justice, then how was she supposed to feel better?

A moment passed, before she turned to continue, only to end up nearly colliding with someone.  Yukiko backed away, bowing and apologizing, only to feel incredibly awkward when the other person did not say anything immediately.

"…Amagi-san?" a voice murmured finally, and she glanced up then, a bit surprised.

She knew Kou Ichijo, of course; his family was one of the oldest in the area, as well as one of the most respectable.  It was unusual to see him out and about on a day off, especially without an escort or limo nearby.  For a moment, Yukiko was not even sure if it was appropriate for her to respond, and just gave a faint nod, bringing herself back up.  Even before she straightened, she could see the distant look in his eyes, like he was not really all there, and it made her pause for a moment.

"Are you okay, Ichijo-kun?" she asked softly, making him snap out of it slightly and finally look at her.  He hesitated, looking like he wanted to spill some deep, dark secret.  A heartbeat passed before he shrank back, shaking his head.

"I'm… fine, just…" he began, biting his lip.  "Amagi-san, how did you… how did you handle Satonaka-san dying?"

That was not a question Yukiko had been expecting, especially since she had just been thinking about it, and it took her aback for a moment.

"I…" she began, but hesitated.  How could she even begin to describe what she was doing to avenge her best friend's death?  "I've… found a way to occupy my time, and also help the police find her killer any way I can."

It was not a complete lie, and for a moment, Kou looked slightly hopeful.  His expression dropped in the next, making it hard to read what he was feeling.

"But what if it's something the police can't deal with?" he asked.  "What then?"

Yukiko wanted to say he had no idea how right he was, but she managed to keep it back.  "I'm sure they can," she replied.  "We can't think otherwise; we'll drive ourselves crazy that way."

…and maybe that was her problem.  She kept thinking that it was up to her, that she was the only one that could avenge Chie's death, when really she was not the only one going through this.  A pained smile came to her face, and she found herself clutching her hands tightly.

"So… really all we can do is wait, and hope," she said softly.  "The person behind this will be found.  I know it."

~.oOOo.~ 

"You want us to do _what_ together?"

Kanji looked like Saki had just zapped him with a cattle prod, while Naoto was casting him a curious glance, not exactly sure why the large boy's face was turning so red.  Saki had a pretty good idea, however, and she let out a sigh, flopping back in her seat at one of the Junes food court tables.  She wondered if someone should just come out and tell Kanji to stop acting like a blushing school girl and just flat out tell Naoto he liked her already, because Naoto sure as heck was not getting the message, even after all that had happened in the bath house.

"I'd like you to work together and fix these," she said, tapping Yosuke's headphones, which she had set on the table before them.  "Naoto-kun has the technical know-how to fix the wire, and you have the crafting skill to fix the plastic.  I'm sure between the two of you, you can do it."

Naoto sat down beside Kanji, taking the headphones in hand and inspecting the wire.  "It would not be too difficult; however, there may be a drop in sound quality."

"That's fine," Saki replied as Naoto passed the headphones on to Kanji.  He was still a healthy shade of pink as he took them, trying to focus on them.

"Uh… dunno about plastic.  I don't really work with that.  But I can see what I can do," he finally said after a moment.

Saki smiled faintly as he engrossed himself with trying to figure out how the plastic parts of the headphones fit together, before she looked up, seeing Yukiko coming down the path.  The younger teen's eyes widened as she caught sight of them, immediately heading toward their table.

"You're all here already," she said brightly.  Kanji glanced up at how cheerful she sounded, looking like the complete opposite of her attitude.

"Those of us that can be, anyway," Naoto replied.  "Is something wrong?"

Yukiko shook her head.  "No… actually, I was thinking about what Adachi-san said."

They all fell quiet, except for Kanji, who let out an irritable noise.  Naoto looked a bit pensive at mention of the detective's name, and Saki looked down at the headphones in Kanji's hands, her expression difficult to read.  Yukiko glanced between the three of them, before she let out a breath.

"He's right, you know," she began, "we are over our heads in this situation; him too, but this is really not something that high school students should be getting involved with."

"So you're sayin' we should quit?" Kanji grumbled, sounding like he was going to start raising his voice any moment.

Yukiko shook her head at that.  "No… I think we should keep going," she replied.  "But… I think we need to understand why we're going on.  I think we may have just been pushing on because the thought of solving this mystery was exciting, and we lost sight of what our reasons really were."

They all fell quiet at that, uneasy looks passing between each other.  Yukiko let out a breath, before continuing:

"I wanted revenge," she admitted softly, "I still do, I think.  Chie was my best friend; she supported me and was there for me, even when I couldn't do the same for her.  No one had any reason to kill her, much less leave her up on display like that for anyone to see.  I…"

She trailed off, clutching her hands before her.  "I _hate_ the person that did that to her.  I want to see them suffer for what they did.  It kills me inside how he's managed to get away with so much so far, and there's so little we can do!"

"Amagi-senpai…" Naoto murmured, looking a bit surprised.  None of them would have expected that from her, and Yukiko needed to take a breath, trying to calm herself down.

"I thought that was my only reason, the only thing keeping me going," she continued softly.  "But I know it's not the real reason.  I don't know what my 'real' reason to keep going is yet, but… I want to find it, and I have a feeling the only way I'm going to do that is if we keep trying to find this murderer."

Silence fell over the group, the other three looking at anywhere but each other, though not out of shame, so much as uncertainty.  They all had their reasons for wanting to continue the chase, for wanting to solve the mystery… but like Yukiko just confessed, they were not the real reason.  A moment passed, before Kanji was the first of them to look up, slapping his hand down on the table.

"Yeah, we gotta keep goin'," he said.  "The police can't do it, not all of 'em.  We may not be much, but we gotta work together."

"Finding our real reason…" Naoto murmured, before she let out a sigh.  "I thought it was to prove myself by solving this case.  That's why I kept going, even after the censure.  Now I'm not so certain…"

Saki remained silent for a moment more, her gaze drifting toward the headphones Kanji was still holding on to again.  She felt a twinge of pain in her chest, and as much as she wanted to say she was doing this because the murderer made it personal, the murderer killed her brother to prove a point, she was not entirely sure if that was the whole truth.  Finally, she let her head fall back, taking a shaky breath.

"I don't know what my reason is either," she agreed.  "But… I know we'll find it.  We have to keep going, no matter what happens next."

A nod was shared between the four of them, before Kanji brought up what was on the back of all their minds:

"But what about Adachi?"

Naoto reached up, pulling her cap low over her eyes.  "I… I will handle Detective Adachi," she said coolly.  "I suspect there is more to his reluctance to continue pursuing the other world.  And… I worry for his mental health as well."

Curious glances were focused on her, but she shook her head.  Now was not the time to get into the details; not until she had the chance to investigate the person Adachi mentioned earlier that afternoon…


	22. Chapter Seventeen – A Strange Sort of Perfect

The last of the lab work on Yamano was taking forever, to the point where Adachi could not stand being anywhere near the station.  Tension was hanging in the air around the office, and even Dojima looked like he was going to snap any second.  More than a few times Adachi found himself grumbling about how damn slow and unreliable the people in this hillbilly town were; if this were the city, that work would have been done the same day, and they would have already had a suspect arrested.

He let out a sigh as he flopped down at a table in the Junes food court, a nice steaming plate of vegetable buns before him for lunch.  He could grumble all he wanted about how stupid and annoying the people around him were, but it was not like it would do him any good.  Stuffing the first bun into his mouth, he found his thoughts drifting back to his conversation with Seiki, and her asking him why he did not just quit.  The more he thought about it, the more tempting it was; he sure as hell did not belong in this hick town, and with how stupid the people were around him, it sapped out his will to even attempt being a decent cop.

And he could kid himself all he wanted, but it was not like he would be transferred back to the city anytime this decade.

"Thinking about me?"

Adachi jumped at the sudden voice, looking up in surprise to see Seiki half hanging in his vision, a sly smile on her face.  She plunked down in a chair next to him, setting her bag down next to her.

"Aren't you supposed to be in school?" he asked.

"And your point is?" she responded, reaching over to steal one of his vegetable buns.  Adachi let out an irritable noise, wrapping a protective arm around the rest of his food and pouting at her, only to get a laugh in return.  "So why are you out here today?  Patrolling again?"

"Sort of; I'm on break right now," he replied, glancing around to see that the two of them were getting strange looks.  Geeze, was it really so weird that he could hang out with a cute teenager?  What the hell was everyone's problem here?

"Why?" she asked, nibbling at her stolen bun.  "Aren't you and my uncle on a big case right now?  Shouldn't you be helping him?"

"We're waiting on a lab report," he replied idly, taking up another bun himself.  "He can deal with wrangling the egos around the department on his own."  He managed to swallow, before pointing at her.  "By the way, you weren't kiddin' when you said your family doesn't talk about you much.  I don't think I've ever seen that kind of look on your uncle's face before."

She smirked slightly at that.  "He feels personally responsible for me," she explained.  "You might want to avoid mentioning that I'm hanging around you."

"Good plan," Adachi grumbled.  Seiki's smirk toned down into something that might have been a bit fond, before she finished off her vegetable bun.

"Since you had to endure one of my uncle's super scary deadly glares, I'll treat you to a soda," she said, sounding distinctly like she was mocking him as she stood up.  "What would you like?"

"Melon soda is fine," he answered, watching her walk off.  Adachi flopped back in his seat, a smile threatening to work its way onto his face…

"Adachi-san."

And good mood slaughtered.

Adachi wanted to scream as he half turned in his seat, giving Shirogane a bitter look.  The bitty detective was in her school uniform despite not actually _being_ there – what the heck was with these kids and their inability to actually stay in school?  What the hell happened to the mandatory attendance policy?  She was giving him one of those strange looks too, like it was impossible for him to be around another woman; what was so hard to believe about that?!

He let out an irritable noise, flopping back properly in his seat and stuffing a vegetable bun completely in his mouth in a vain effort to ignore her.  It did not work of course, and she decided to take the seat Seiki had occupied a moment ago.

"For a genius detective, you sure have trouble taking a hint," he grumbled once he finally swallowed.

"We need to talk."

"No we don't."

"I mean it, Adachi-san, this is imp—"

"Why the hell aren't you at school?"

"Adachi-san—!"

He pounded his fist on the table, cutting her off before she could get another word out.

"I told you, I'm _done,"_ he snapped.  "This case is a police matter, no matter how weird it is, and you're not included on it anymore.  This isn't something that kids should be getting involved with anyway!"

"But—!" Naoto tried to protest, but Adachi was already shoving his seat away from him, grabbing the last bun from the plate and letting it hang from his mouth.  He was storming away from her in the next moment, ignoring her as she tried to call after him.

He had finished the bun and dumped his plate in the return area just as he caught sight of Seiki again, a melon soda in each hand.  She gave him a curious look, heading over and offering him one.

"Something wrong?" she asked, turning to match his stride out of the food court.  He cracked the soda open first, trying to force the sour look off his face.

"Just had to deal with a pain in my ass," he grumbled finally, taking a swig of the soda.  The sweetness tingled in his mouth, helping his mood settle a bit, but he could not help but still be sour.

Seiki looked incredibly amused.  "Why don't you just arrest them?" she asked, a teasing tone in her voice.  "Clearly it's against the law to make you so mad."

Adachi snorted at that, giving her an exasperated look.  That was hardly enough to deter her, and she hopped on her feet as they walked off, that line face of hers looking excited.

"Oh, does this mean we can bitch about the people in our lives?" she asked.

He stared at her hopping around, before shaking his head.  "Sure, why not?" he replied.  "Let's start with that chick, Naoto-kun…"

He did not think much of it as she continued to follow him, even as he started down on the street proper.  They were getting strange looks again, but Adachi was more caught up in complaining about the stupid and annoying people he had to deal with every day than to pay attention to it; obviously the hicks in this town did not know a guy that deserved to have a chick at his side when they saw him.  Seiki was not paying much attention to them either, caught up in listening to what he was saying, pausing only once to crack open her soda and sip at it.  She did not contribute much, more intent on listening to what he had to say than commenting on it.

It was a long moment before Adachi had finally paused for breath, and they were well away from Junes by that point.  He paused, trying to get an idea of where exactly he was at, as she let out an amused noise at how lost he seemed.

"So, is that why you patrol so much?" Seiki asked.  "You seem to have a lot of dislike for everyone; you use patrolling to get away from them?"

"Yes and no," he admitted, finally spotting something familiar.  "Inaba's department is short staffed, so detectives sometimes have to do the same work that beat cops would normally do in bigger areas.  I don't like it, but… now that you put it like that, I guess it is something to do to get away from them all."

She was silent for a long moment, sipping absently at her soda.

"It's gotta get lonely," she finally said.  "Being by yourself all the time."

"It's easy that way," Adachi said without thinking about it.

"But doesn't it get lonely?"

He paused at that, letting out a deep sigh.  Working together with the others… working with Dojima, even his old partner in the city; it was all a pain in the ass trying to associate with them when he did not feel any kind of connection, no matter how nice or shitty they were.  At least when he was alone, he did not have to pretend he gave a shit, but…

"Didn't say it wasn't lonely, just that it was easier," he replied finally, taking a swig of his soda.

"Well, is it easy to have me around?" she asked.

He let out an awkward noise, turning to her again.  Why did she always have to throw weird questions at him out of the blue like that?

"You're a weirdo, kid," he grumbled into his can, only to get a laugh out of her.

"Why, because I make you think?" she asked, shrugging off the weird look he gave her at that.  "You scrunch your eyebrows together when you're actually giving something some thought, you know."

Adachi let out another exasperated noise.  "How the heck did you pick that up?  This is only the second time we've talked."

She answered with a mysterious smile.  "Oh, I have my ways."

Her fingers wiggled at him, a completely straight expression on her face.  He stared at her for a long moment, before he let out a snort, a smile coming back to his.  They started off together again after that, only pausing when their sodas were finished to throw them in the first trash receptacle they came to.  A long moment passed before she glanced up at him again, looking serious.

"You know… it doesn't hurt too much to reach out to other people," she said, hesitating a moment, before she almost shyly reached out to him, slipping her arms around one of his.  "You'd be surprised how nice it feels."

Adachi let out an awkward noise, staring down at her like she was mental.  Never mind the fact that his face was turning pink.

"Y-you're just playing me for a fool, aren't you?"

Again, there was that faint, mysterious smile.  "Maybe a little," she admitted.  "But isn't it nice to talk to someone that'll listen?"

He could not argue with her on that point, and an almost smile threatening to twitch onto his face.  The moment was ruined in the next instant, however, as his cell phone started blaring in his pocket.  She let go of him as he went fishing around, finally locating which pocket he had shoved the device in.

"Ada—"

 _"ADACHI!"_ Dojima's voice blared out of the speaker so loud that he had to jerk it away from his ear.  Seiki started giggling, able to clearly hear her uncle raging at the poor detective.  _"Where the hell are you!?"_

"I-I'm on pat—"

_"Get back to the station immediately!"_

Dojima hung up before Adachi could get a word in edgewise, and he let out an exasperated sigh, flipping his phone closed.

"Guess that means the lab report came in," he muttered, his words nearly drowned out as a local delivery truck passed them by.  "Looks like I gotta get going."

"Go arrest the bad guys," she encouraged him.  "I'll be in Junes until late, so stop by if my uncle lets you breathe."

A bit of a lopsided smile came to his face, before he started heading down the street back the way they had come.  He paused after a moment, glancing back at her.  It was… weird; it was like where everyone knew how to press his buttons and get him pissed, she seemed to know how to make those buttons push back and put him at ease.  He did not know how someone he just met could manage that but… he was grateful.  It felt nice to be around someone that did not expect anything out of him except a conversation.

Seiki spotted him staring, and she waved at him, before starting down the street to loop around back to Junes.  He waved at her back, letting out a faint sigh, before heading toward the station.

~.oOOo.~ 

Adachi was poised and ready to take rapid fire notes during the meeting (after taking a good minute to find a clean page), but his heart was not exactly into it.  He knew the person responsible was not _the_ murderer they were looking for; they were just someone that thought killing Yamano was a good idea.  He still did not think it was that big of a loss, and he had much rather be focusing on the last victim that actually pertained to the real case, not some copycat.

That changed pretty quickly when Dojima started to speak:

"DNA lab test results confirmed: the skin fragments and blood found under Yamano's fingernails belong to Namatame Taro," he announced, drawing murmurs from the other detectives.  They all knew the story, that Namatame had an affair with the woman, made public by his own former wife.

"Question!" someone in the back called out.  "Why wasn't he brought in for questioning immediately after finding the body?"

"No reason to; Namatame and Yamano had no contact with each other since their affair went public," Dojima answered, though judging from his tone, they had every reason to bring him in, just no one was available to do it.  His eyes flicked over to Adachi real quick, as if silently blaming him, before he continued.  "Regardless, the both of them have been under the radar since as well.  Finding her murdered was unexpected."

"But isn't this just part of the other murders?" someone asked, getting both Adachi and Dojima to roll their eyes.

"There's no proof of—"

The crowd of detectives broke out into a million questions at once, demanding to know how the heck there was no proof of it being part of the same case.  Still others were shouting about how the prefectural office would be on their ass for not finding a way to close the serial murder case.  It got to the point where Dojima was going to explode, and he had to snap loudly before he got control of the meeting back.

"It doesn't matter if it is or not right now," he bit out once he had quiet again.  "Right now, all that matters is getting Namatame into custody.  He's been working at his family's delivery service since he was fired from public office.  Contact there informed us he was already out on a delivery to Junes."

There was a loud _snap_ as everything suddenly fell deathly quiet, and it took a moment for Adachi to realize that all eyes were on him.  He looked around, before looking down to see that he had pressed his pencil against the pad so hard when Dojima announced a _freaking murderer_ was at Junes, that he snapped the tip completely off.  He let out a sheepish sound, shoving the pencil back into his pad without comment, and it was taking everything for him not to get up and bolt out of the station, and he could not say _why._ He was pretty sure that if Dojima found out his niece had skipped school, he _let her_ continue to skip school, and right now she was in the same building as Namatame, he would be lucky if he got away with just his neck wrung out.

The rest of the meeting felt like it was going at a snail's pace, never mind it barely lasted a minute more, and when it finally broke, Adachi sprang up from his seat immediately.  Dojima motioned for him to come with him, not like he needed to; he very nearly wanted to grab the older detective and bolt out the door.

"You're anxious," Dojima commented, looking at him suspiciously.

"A-ah, well… I don't think Namatame has anything to do with the big case, but if he does, Konishi is probably there by now, so…"

It was a terrible lie, and he could not help but flinch; really, he did not care what happened to Saki.  If she ended up tossed in a TV, she could handle herself.  If she ended up stabbed or something… well, no big deal.  He was much more worried about Seiki; hopefully she would be in a section of the store nowhere near the loading docks, where Dojima mentioned the store owner was keeping Namatame distracted with bullshit paperwork, and beat cops were ready to pounce if he tried to leave.

Every time someone tried to hope for the best, the worst happened instead, as was apparent when they finally got to Junes.  The cop cars that were supposed to be kept at the loading docks surrounded the building, lights blazing as people crowded the sidewalk, watching the store with mixed looks of horror and curiosity.  Dojima swore as they pulled to a stop, just barely getting out of the car before Adachi did.

"What the hell happened here!?" Dojima barked at the nearest cop.  The man near jumped out of his skin as a result.

"Sir, one of the rookies jumped the gun," he explained.  "Namatame saw him and bolted into the facility.  We have the place on lock down, but there are still civilians inside."

Adachi was busily scanning the crowd of people, trying to spot a familiar head of grey hair.  No one stood out, and he near swore loudly; no, no, she could not still be inside that place.  What if Namatame had completely snapped?  What if he had gotten a gun somehow?  His heart started pounding in his chest, a dozen terrible scenarios playing over and over again in his head, all ending with Dojima choking the life out of him for getting his niece killed.

He snapped around after a moment, going back to Dojima's car and pulling out one of the protective vests in the trunk.  It was tossed over his head as he walked back toward the police line, and he was still buckling it in when his partner caught sight of him, staring at him like he grew another head.  It took a moment for it to kick in what Adachi planned on doing, mostly because it was completely out of character for him, but when it did his hand immediately snapped out, grabbing his arm.

"What the hell do you think you're doing?!" he demanded.

Adachi just shrugged him off.  "Hey, you told me to keep an eye on Konishi, right?" he replied, pulling his gun and checking to see if it was fully loaded.  "I'm doing my job."

He shot out toward the store at that, leaving Dojima looking like he wanted to eat his tie as he slipped in through the glass front doors.  It was disturbingly quiet inside, and Adachi ignored the elevator in favor of the stairs.  Pretty much nothing he was doing was by the book, and he had a feeling he was going to get himself fired or disciplined, but he did not see where he had much of a choice. He did know he had to play it smart, and knew better than to just jump in and leave himself exposed in places like elevators.

As he made it down to the grocery level, he had his gun held out, leaving the wall at his back as he peered inside.  The Junes jingle was going off over the loudspeaker as usual, but other than that, it was stone silent in the store.  Checking around him, he ducked low and darted to the nearest aisle, keeping the store shelves behind him and listening for the barest of sounds, any indication that there might have been someone around.

He was more focused on trying to find Seiki, but he guessed he had to at least keep an eye out for Saki too.  The further he went down, however, the more he was wondering if anyone was left in the store at all.  That was, until his foot tapped something, and someone nearly screamed in fright.  Adachi looked down just in time to see someone huddling back on a shelf, and he had to duck down to see who it was.

"…Saki?" he whispered, pretty sure he recognized her crimped hair.  Her head moved, and he got to see her wide eyes staring up at him.

"Adachi-san?" she asked, sounding as scared as she looked, hiding behind the off brand cornflakes.  He reached down, pushing boxes out of the way, before offering her a hand out of the shelf.

"What's going on?" she asked once she was standing, leaning against the shelf.  "I heard on the loud speaker to evacuate, but I couldn't get out."

Adachi paused, glancing back at where he had pulled her out of.  "…so you hid behind the cheap cereal?"

Her face flushed in response.  "I heard something; it was the only thing I could think to do."

He so wanted to roll his eyes, and part of him wanted to know how the heck she managed it, but he could understand her being scared.  "Look, someone else might be here too: Dojima's niece, Seiki.  Have you seen her?"

Saki stared at him at that, eyes widening slowly, like Adachi was crazy.  "Dojima's… _niece?"_ she echoed.  "But… Adachi-san…"

Adachi let out a sigh, shaking his head.  "I guess you wouldn't've, if you were hiding," he mumbled, going toward the end of the aisle to peer across the way.  There was the clothing section in one direction, which would not give him much cover, and in the other direction, there was a sporting goods section…

He paused, before glancing back at her.  Saki had gone really pale, like she had just seen a ghost, but Adachi dismissed it.  She was probably just scared; now that he thought about it, fighting against Shadows was not as scary as knowing there was a human being lurking around that might kill you if given a chance.

"Look, go back that way," he said, nodding in the direction he came from.  "That was clear when I went through; if you hurry you should be all right."

Adachi shot off then, missing Saki trying to fumble after him, as if she were trying to warn him about something.  He looped around a stand of fruit and headed straight for the sporting goods department, only to nearly run into a display of training swords.  Really, they looked real enough to be the actual thing, and he could not help but make a face; he wondered about this country sometimes…

He looked up from the display, just in time to see something greenish-blue flash just down an aisle, and his gun was up in the next moment, slowly heading in the direction of the blur until he made it to the end.  Turning, he saw the man of the hour: Taro Namatame was just down the way, eyes wide as he looked around frantically.  If it was for a weapon or an exit, Adachi did not care; he kept his gun level on him as he took a breath to steady his nerves.

"Namatame Taro!" he called down the way.  "Inaba PD!  Stay where you are and put your hands up where I can see them!"

Damn, he sounded so cool when he said that!

Of course, he did not get to enjoy his moment of badass, because Namatame thought it was a good idea to grab a hunting knife from a display and throw it at him.  Really, it was not a good idea at all, and Adachi near shrieked as he shot back into the aisle, the blade tearing through where he had been standing just a second ago.  Someone _did_ shriek, though, and he glanced back around to see Shirogane down the opposite direction, staring at where the knife had stuck itself into the wall just inches above her head.

…well, now he supposed it was a good thing she was so short.

Adachi did not have time to worry about her, however; Namatame was darting out of the sporting goods section, heading toward the electronics department.  He shot off after him, his heart hammering in his chest as he kept glancing around, half expecting to see Seiki any second.  There was no way she could get caught up in this; she was just a kid that actually had a good sense of humor and was worth talking to.  He would never forgive himself if she got hurt because someone snapped and killed his girlfriend.

"Namatame-san, don't make this harder than it needs to be!" he called after him as they came out to the massive TV displays.  Namatame stopped then, looking around frantically for something, anything that would help him escape as Adachi advanced on him, gun ready just in case.

Namatame backed away from him, bumping into the frame of a TV and getting a startled gasp as a result.  The two men paused, because there was no way a TV could gasp like that, and then a flash of grey darted out from behind the television.  Namatame was able to react before Adachi could, and he grabbed onto the girl before she had a chance to get away.

"Seiki!" Adachi shouted, just as he heard footsteps behind him.  He did not bother to look back, more worried about Seiki at the moment, but it had to be Shirogane, judging from the noise she let out.

Namatame yanked Seiki against him, his arm wrapping around her neck.  She struggled, looking like she was just shy of biting him, while Adachi kept his gun trained on him, his trigger finger twitching, just waiting for the opportunity to shoot the bastard down to present itself.  No one would find him wrong for blowing his brains out; even if he did not have a weapon, he had a damn hostage and had already murdered one woman.  There was no way anyone would try to accuse him of overreacting this time around!

"S-stay away!" Namatame shrieked, shuffling back farther, the TV from before at his back.  Seiki tried to glare behind her… before she suddenly shoved back with all her weight, catching the other man off guard.

…and everything fell apart at once.

Instead of impacting against the television screen, the two of them _sunk through it._ Adachi screamed, darting forward with his hand out, trying to grab for Seiki, only to get nothing but air as the two of them disappeared into the other world.  He stood there for a long moment, trying to process what just happened, that Namatame had fallen in and dragged Seiki with him.  It did not add up; there was no way that he could have been involved with the big murder case, and Seiki had just arrived in town… so why the hell had they fallen in!?

"Adachi-san…" Naoto began as he heard more footsteps behind him.  He glanced over his shoulder, seeing a wide eyed, pale as a ghost Saki just coming down the way.  The both of them looked like they had just seen something that was not supposed to have happened, and Adachi let out an annoyed noise, grabbing for the fasteners that held his vest on.  He had it shrugged off in the next moment, his suit jacket and tie from Dojima following it to the floor.

"What are you…?" Saki began, trailing off as he holstered his gun, moving so he was in the path of the television.  "Adachi, don't!  You don't know where you'll end up!"

"Adachi-san, wait!  Listen to me first!"

Adachi ignored them, and they both shouted after him as he took a running leap right into the television screen.


	23. Chapter Eighteen – It was ALL a Lie

Naoto expected police guns to be trained on them as soon as they emerged from Junes, and thankfully, the Inaba Police Department did not let her down in that regard.  Still, even with warning Saki that would happen, she let out a startled gasp from behind her, possibly turning even paler than she was already.  Naoto glanced back at her, before raising her hands, one with her private investigator license held up for all to see.

"It's all right!" she called.  "Please lower your weapons!"

There was a beat, before Dojima's familiar voice rang out over the gathering of cops.

"You heard her!" he snapped.  "Lower your weapons!  Now!"

The guns came down as Dojima pushed his way through, near bowling over one of the cops that did not get out of his way.  He pounded right up to Naoto, his gaze flicking to Saki for a moment, before focusing back on the private detective.

"Where's Adachi?" he demanded.

Naoto reached up, tugging down on her hat.  "…Detective Adachi is pursuing the suspect on foot.  I lost sight of them out the emergency exit in the electronics department.  The store should be safe now."

He gave her a suspicious look, before turning and motioning to the other cops.  They started to move in, and Naoto decided that was a good moment to grab Saki's arm and sneak away.  Dojima was still distracted, this time with his phone as he tried to call Adachi.  They had just gotten out of sight when she heard the older detective mutter, "What do you mean he's not in the service area?" and Naoto quickened her pace, determined to be out of there before he realized they were gone.

She could feel Saki shaking by the time they stopped, and she let go to look back and see her senior just shy of collapsing.  She leaned against the wall of a nearby building instead to brace herself, taking a moment before she looked up.

"Naoto-kun… was that really…?" she began, but she could not finish.  What they had just seen was just so impossible, but…

"I believe so," Naoto replied, adjusting her hat.  "I thought Adachi-san may have been suffering from some kind of complex brought on from stress, but it seems I was wrong."

Saki pressed a hand to her forehead, feeling like she was going to be sick.  This was too much weird all at once; how were they supposed to deal with this?

"When I saw Seito that time, I didn't even make the connection. I…  W-we need to tell the others," she finally managed to get out, pushing herself off the wall.  "We all know the story… they'll need to know what to expect."

Naoto did not comment, merely giving a faint nod.

~.oOOo.~

The world was spinning around Adachi's head as he came to, already able to feel the carpet fibers ground into his face before he was even fully conscious.  He groaned as he pushed himself up, a hand going to his face; damn, did he land on it again?  Considering he dived head first through the TV screen, he was not entirely surprised, but damn did that hurt.  He really needed to stop doing things that would put him through ridiculous amounts of pain.

After a moment, he leaned back on his heels, looking around at whatever messed up world he might have ended up in.  To his surprise, it was just… hallways, like one would find in a courthouse, although he was pretty sure those walls did not bleed.  He let out an alarmed noise when he noticed a blood puddle was uncomfortably close, shooting up to his feet and stumbling away.

"Ahh… starting to think this was a bad idea…" he mumbled to himself, rubbing at the back of his neck.  All he had on him was his gun and his cell phone; he had not even notified Dojima that he was going to pursue the suspect.  Damn, he was really going to be in for it now; he could already see his suspension notice being slammed in his face.

After a moment, he let out a sigh, pulling his gun and checking the chamber.  At least he was fully loaded, but he was pretty sure he did not have many extras for a reload on him.  Since he could not use the weapon in the TV without drawing suspicion, he had not taken to carrying that many extra bullets with him – seriously, how often was he going to need to use it in this hick town?

He paused a moment, before reaching out for his Arcana.

_"Izanagi!"_

Well, it was not like he was entirely alone and weaponless here.  He _did_ have a big warrior in a _banchou_ coat that he could pull out whenever he wanted, and he looked up to Izanagi, tossing the Persona a faint smirk.

"Watch my six, eh?" he asked, not that he expected a response, and he was slightly surprised he even nodded at him.

He did not pause to dwell on it, instead starting off down the bloody halls with his gun in hand.  He could hear the moaning of Shadows around him, and it made his heart pound, his finger on the trigger twitching in nerves.  Izanagi glanced down at him, before hovering ahead of him, taking point.  The protective action drew a faint smirk out of Adachi, and he eased back on the trigger slightly.

He could take care of himself.  There was no one out there he could rely on more than himself.

~.oOOo.~

_"You guys!  You were beary grizzly last time!"_

Uneasy looks passed between Saki, Naoto, Kanji, and Yukiko, confronted by an annoyed, still slightly flattened bear as soon as they came out to the other side of the TV.  A moment passed, before Saki let out a sigh, worrying her hands in front of her as she stepped forward.

"Teddie… I'm sorry," she said softly.  "You're right, we really were… pretty terrible the last time we were here.  You didn't deserve that."

"Adachi did," Kanji grumbled under his breath.  Naoto and Teddie both shot him annoyed looks, but the bear quickly turned his attention back to Saki.

"I know sensei isn't the greatest guy," he admitted softly.  "Even I can see that.  But I think that's just 'cause sensei is scared, not so much of the Shadows, but of what could happen to you all, and… maybe he's a little scared of himself too."

Silence fell over them again, before Naoto stepped forward then, resting a comforting hand on the bear's head.  She stroked his fur, still a bit beat up looking from the fight against his Shadow, but that did not stop his ears from wiggling happily.

"It seems you understand Adachi-san better than us, and we are with him more often," she said softly.

Teddie gave a nod.  "Yeah!  Because sensei has a really kind heart, he just doesn't like to show it," he said, before he let out an alarmed noise, the tuft of fur on top of his head standing on end.  "Oh!  That's right!  I smelled sensei here before!  What happened?"

"Adachi-san came here through a TV at Junes," Saki explained.  "He was pursuing a man, and a…"

She trailed off, not sure how to say it to Teddie.  He looked confused at her hesitation, and both Yukiko and Kanji looked away, uncomfortable.  Naoto, however, gave his head a pat again, trying to look encouraging for the bear in place of Adachi.

"We're counting on you to sniff him out, Teddie-san."

~.oOOo.~

Adachi felt his heart pounding, sweat collecting on his forehead as he and Izanagi rounded the next corner.  The scenery around them had gotten steadily more disturbing, to the point where it was hard to see where exactly the walls were through all the blood, and it made him wonder just how hard had this Namatame guy snapped to result in a dungeon like this.

Or maybe this was not Namatame's dungeon, but…

He frowned, squeezing his eyes shut as he shook his head.  No, no way Seiki would be hiding this much weirdness in her heart.  Even if her family did treat her unusually, she seemed upbeat and independent; there was no way she could be harboring feelings that would lead to this kind of weirdness.

The going had been pretty difficult on his own as well; the Shadows that found him were _strong,_ almost too strong for Izanagi to handle all by himself.  On top of it, the fog was ridiculously thick in this place, and even with his glasses on, it was near impossible to see.  Once again, he was second guessing his brash decision to jump in full tilt, but he really did not know what else to do with a murder suspect grabbing an innocent and diving in like that.  Besides, Seiki had to be scared shitless by now, and Naoto probably told Dojima what happened…

He had just paused for breath, when he could hear voices coming from up ahead; a male and female, definitely Namatame and Seiki.  He steeled himself, shooting ahead of Izanagi to a set of double doors just down the hall.  His foot shot out, knocking the doors open with very little effort, and his leg came down as his gun came up, aimed and ready to fire if the situation was desperate.

"Namatame-san!  You're under arrest!"

Namatame's attention snapped over to him, eyes widening in surprise.  Seiki was still in his grasp, making a face as she struggled to try and get away from him, especially since Adachi was there to rescue her.  Beyond the two of them, however… there was another Namatame, a terrifying grin on his face and creepy, glowing yellow eyes.

"Crap…" Adachi muttered under his breath.  Well, at least that answered whose dungeon this was.

The Shadow let out an unhinged laugh, that freakish grin on his face widening.  Namatame edged away, clearly afraid, and Seiki let out another annoyed noise as she was dragged along with him.

"This is the end, you see?" the Shadow hissed, his voice sounding like it was coming through an anonymous voice filter.  "It doesn't matter what you do now, it doesn't matter what you say.  You are a murderer.  They'll blame you for everything… but what does it matter.  You're nothing now anyway."

Namatame let out a frightened noise.  "N-no… you're lying… I didn't mean… I'm not…!"

"It felt good, didn't it?" the Shadow continued, eyes glowing brighter.  "It felt good to have control over someone else's life… to hold it in your hands, especially since you went through so much _hell because of her._ It's better that she's dead; that way we don't have to be in pain anymore!"

"That's not…!" Namatame protested, shaking.  "S-stop talking like we're the same!  You're nothing like me!"

Adachi swore under his breath as the darkness gathered around the Shadow, exploding out around it in all directions.  Namatame let out a shout, blasted off his feet and forced to let go of Seiki.  She fell over as well, but she managed to gather her footing quickly, scrambling over to Adachi.  He grabbed onto her as soon as she got in range, wrapping a protective arm around her as he kept his gun trained on the Shadow, but that seemed useless now.

It continued to expand, growing larger and larger until finally the darkness cleared, revealing a black and red striped creature hanging upside down from a metal sphere.  It was blindfolded, and its arms were abnormally long, a dish hanging from each hand.  The dishes were empty, but they looked tarnished, as if at one point they may have been filled with contents that had spilled over the sides.

_"I am a Shadow.  I am the true self."_

Seiki pressed herself a little closer to him at that, unnerved.  "What is that thing?"

"Bad news," Adachi replied, before glancing up at his Persona.  "Izanagi!"

His Persona rushed forward, sword lashing out to strike at the Shadow.  It just raised one of the dishes in response, and Izanagi's sword bounced uselessly against an invisible shield.  Adachi swore under his breath, bringing his Persona back to use lightening against it instead, but the Shadow merely raised the other dish, blocking that as well.  Again, he tried switching the method of attack, but the Shadow was just much faster than Izanagi, easy blocking the attack once again.

"You've gotta figure out how to get it to stop raising those dishes…" Seiki murmured, clinging to him and shaking.  He glanced down at her, and whatever sarcastic response he had did not even make it to his throat.  Instead, he just held her a little tighter, trying to focus on how the Shadow was moving.  Maybe if he could get Izanagi to hold an arm down…

His Persona shot forward, grabbing the dish that had blocked his sword with one hand and raised his blade with the other.  Something seemed to blaze through the folds of the blindfold at that, and wind suddenly shot up around Izanagi, knocking his Persona clear off of the Shadow.  Adachi let out a pained gasp, ending up leaning on Seiki for support.  Dammit, that was not going to work… something needed to keep that thing held _down_ before even trying to make any attempts to attack it.  With just him and Izanagi, he had no idea how he was supposed to accomplish that.

A familiar squeaking noise reached his ears, and his head snapped around to the door just in time to see Teddie come through.  He let out a frightened noise at the sight of the Shadow, before immediately darting over to Adachi as the others ran in behind him.

"Sensei!  You got yourself in big trouble this time!" he exclaimed, clinging to his leg.  Adachi let out an exasperated noise, before he leveled an irritated gaze at the others.

"What the hell are you all doing here?" he demanded.

Naoto's eyes lingered for a moment on Seiki, before she reached up, pulling her hat down low, like that was one issue she was going to deal with later.

"…we realized we need to keep going, by whatever means necessary," she explained.  "Even if you do not approve.  We have a 'reason' to look for that is important to us."

Adachi looked like he was going to snap at her, but the words died in his throat.  Dammit, he did not want to admit it, but he really needed them right now.  He reached up, adjusting his glasses as he turned back to the Shadow.

"Tatsumi!  Use your Persona to hold down one of the arms.  Saki, Yukiko; hold down the other one.  Shirogane, keep the head focused on you; you're going to get hit.  I'll try to get in the final blow before it's worse than just one hit."

There was an awkward pause, as if they were not even sure if they should be following orders from Adachi just out of the blue.  Finally, Kanji let out an annoyed noise, calling on his massive bruiser of a Persona.

"Th' hell you all waiting for?!" he demanded.  "You heard the man!"

Take-Mikazuchi stomped forward, with Tsunade and Konohana Sakuya following just after.  Kanji's Persona grabbed one of the Shadow's arms easily, though the girls had a bit of trouble holding it down.

"Don't forget about me!" Teddie exclaimed, letting go of Adachi's leg in favor of bouncing on his feet (though flopping was more accurate).  He waved his flattened arms, a determined look on his face.  "Go!  Bearsona!"

Adachi rolled his eyes skyward as the canister with legs that was Teddie's Persona appeared.  It rolled toward the Shadow, popping up and dropping itself into the dish on the arm the girls were trying to hold down, helping them keep it down.

_"Sukuna-Hikona!"_

Naoto's tiny Persona shot out, hitting the Shadow in the face with his overly large sword.  The Shadow let out a groan in response, something beneath the blindfold blazing again and blasting the tiny Persona with some kind of energy beam.  Naoto let out a groan of pain as she fell over, but Izanagi was already dashing forward before the Shadow could attack her Persona again, lashing out several times with his massive sword, ending it by jerking back and letting loose a bolt of lightning.  The plates fell from the Shadow's hands at that (Teddie's Persona ended up rolling away), and a moment later the abomination fell from the sphere it was dangling from, landing on the ground and spewing black mist everywhere.

A groan came from where Namatame had fallen, and he pushed himself up just as his Shadow returned to normal.  He let out a shriek at the sight of it, scurrying back on his rear end and trying to get as far away from it as possible.  For a moment, the Shadow looked almost sad… before it suddenly crackled and snapped apart, disappearing in waves of red light.  Namatame stared for a long moment, before letting out a relieved sounding laugh that quickly turned into full blown cackling as he fell back, managing a few more awkward giggles and fainting soon after.  Seiki stared down at his unconscious body, making a face as she loosened her hold on Adachi.

"…that guy has issues," she murmured.

"Yeah, just a few," Adachi agreed, shaking his head.  He let go of her at that, going over to handcuff Namatame while he was still unconscious, just in case.  Once he was finished, he looked over to the others… only to see that all eyes were on Seiki, giving her strange looks, and he could only frown at them; was it really that hard to believe that there was a cute chick out there that he could get along with?  Maybe if they stopped being such a pain, he would be able to get along with them too.

"Adachi-san," Naoto finally spoke up.  "We need to talk."

Adachi had to resist the urge to groan.  "One, no we don't, and two, I have a suspect I need to drag back to the sta—"

"Adachi-san, it's about her!" Naoto snapped at him, finally losing her patience with him.  She jabbed a finger toward Seiki for extra effect, not that she was at all bothered by it.  "She is not who she says she is!"

Adachi stared at Naoto, before rolling his eyes.  "What are you talking about?" he asked.  "How could she not be Dojima's niece?  She looks exactly like her brother."

"We don't know," Saki spoke up then, clutching her hands before her.  "But she can't be Seiki Souzen.  Twelve years ago… the fog was really bad on the roads outside of Inaba.  A small car was on the same road as a delivery truck, and…  There was an accident, and one of the people killed was a little girl."

"And you're saying Seiki was that little girl?" Adachi deadpanned, glancing at Seiki.  She looked pretty damn alive and kicking to him, even though she was not showing that much emotion at the moment.

"She was," Yukiko spoke up.  "It was all over the news at the time, and a lot of people were calling for changes on the roads to make sure nothing like that happened again."

Adachi let out an irritable noise, reaching up to rub at his forehead.  Wow, they were really milking this for all it was worth, hunh?  They had to be jealous or something; after all, they had been with him longer and had a harder time getting along with him.  She hung out with him twice, and already knew how to put him at ease.

"What's more…" Naoto began, looking uncertain.  "I saw you the time you claimed you were with Seiki, and I assume you were 'with her' at the food court earlier.  You were alone, Adachi-san.  There was no one else with you."

A groan escaped from him at that one.  "Okay, now you're just being ridiculous," he said, turning to Seiki again.  "Don't listen to them; let's get—"

He ended up cutting himself off as he took in Seiki's expression; though it still had not moved much from the usual neutral, her eyes seemed kind of… sad.

"Seiki-chan?"

She did not seem to want to look at him as she let out a sigh, closing her eyes.  After a moment, she approached where Namatame was passed out on the ground, looking down at him with those sad eyes.  Adachi stared at her, mouth posed to ask what was wrong, but the words would not come out, and instead there was a niggling feeling of dread pooling in the pit of his stomach.

"It's sad, you know?" she finally asked softly, nodding down at Namatame.  "He was supposed to be more important to Inaba than this.  He was supposed to recover from his ordeal, and help the town grow more prosperous than it ever had been.  Now, because things changed, he'll never get that chance.  He'll be locked away, and forgotten about forever."

Adachi stared, not sure what she was getting at.  She finally looked up at him then, letting out a sigh as she smiled sadly.

"I had been hoping to stay longer, you know?" she asked.  "You're such a dumbass, but it's fun to hear you talking about things."

"Seiki?"

That dread was churning in his gut, and he could only watch as she let her arms fall behind her, clasping her hands together behind her back.

"…I'm sorry, Adachi-san.  I died here in Inaba twelve years ago, when my brother and I were five."

Adachi forgot how to breathe at that moment, staring in wide eyed horror as parts of Seiki's skin began to turn ashen, rotting away right before his eyes.  Somehow, she still remained standing, even as a leg fell off, not looking the least bit bothered as she started becoming a corpse.  He wanted to reach out to her, to somehow _stop_ whatever the hell was going on, but he could not get his legs to move, and from the expression on her face, she much preferred him where he was anyway.

"I gave you what I could, in the short time I had," she said, the parts that had already rotted turning to dust and blowing away, to whatever corners of the TV world they were being called to.  Even her face was rotting now, and it was disgusting to see one eyeball crumpling away, to see veins drying up, but Adachi just _could not_ look away.  Her voice was not even coming from her mouth anymore, but seemed to echo around the room.

"Just remember, sometimes the Truth is the hardest thing to accept."

When the last of her head had faded away was when Adachi finally managed to get himself to move, a hand reaching out of its own will to try and grasp the dust that remained.  It slipped through his fingers, vanishing into the world around them, and leaving him with nothing.

Silence hung thickly in the air, broken only when Adachi's body could not keep him upright anymore, and he dropped to his knees.  He still stared at where Seiki had been standing, too shocked and numb to process what he had just witnessed.  For the first time in his life… he had been happy, he had found someone that he could actually talk to and not feel like he had to cater to their ego.  He had been invited to complain, to spill his mind, to have someone listen, and actually be able to listen to them in return.  For once, just once, he had not felt lonely, and…

…and it was all a lie.

Pain suddenly shot up into his chest, and he doubled over, letting out a gasping scream and not even noticing Izanagi disappearing from where he had been hovering just by Take-Mikazuchi.  Kanji got to him first, trying to get him back up to his feet, but Adachi shoved him off, not giving a damn.  What the hell was the point anymore?  He could not just have one fucking thing to make him happy in this damn world, then what the hell was the point of even doing anything!?   Everything was shit, and it could all go to hell as far as he was concerned!  The TV world, the real world, all of it!

"Adachi-san…!" Saki protested, going over to his other side.  "We should leave now."

 _"Now_ you want to leave?!" he snapped at her, shaking.  It was taking all of his will power not to reach up and strangle her.  The thought had occurred to him before, several times, how—

_"How easy."_

Adachi froze solid at the voice that was not his, but sounded just like him, his eyes widening slowly.  Oh _no…_

"It'd just be too damn easy to kill any one of you brats," the voice continued, the sound of footsteps coming from behind them.  Adachi did not want to look, but he could already tell the others could see who it was.  Saki had jerked away from him, and they all took a collective step back.  "Strangle you, beat your heads in… I wouldn't shoot you; that'd be a waste of a bullet, and too easy to trace back.  I wouldn't even need to try that hard to dispose of the body.  Just shove it in the nearest TV and done; no one would ever know."

Adachi's heart hammered in his chest, trying not to actually _hear_ the thoughts that had come to his head time and time again.  The voice let out a tired sigh, and he could easily picture the owner waving his hand dismissively.

"You all are such a pain in my ass, you know that?" he asked.  "'Let's go find the murderer!' 'Let's got solve the mystery!'  What are you, twelve?  This kinda thing is just beyond you stupid kids.  Go home. Study.  Get into a good school and make a good life for yourselves.  That's what Japanese children are _supposed_ to do with their lives, right?"

Adachi got the distinct impression the voice was not asking the others that and he stiffened, finally daring to turn around.  It was him all right, scruffy suit and all, with an insidious grin on his face and bright, beady yellow eyes.  The fog hung tickly at his feet, puddles of blood flooding around the Shadow, stretching out like long fingers toward the whole group.

_"Isn't that right, me?!"_

Yukiko let out a yelp as one of the bloody fingers reached her shoes, jumping back and nearly knocking over a trashcan.  Now that he was paying attention, now that he did not have Namatame and rescuing Seiki to worry about, Adachi noticed the final room in the place was largely indistinct, unlike what final rooms had been in the past.  Since _he_ had appeared though, it was taking a more defined shape; crooked buildings, broken street lamps, and ruined cars lined the room, blood seeping from every window.  It was the big city, or at least some mockery of it, and just behind _him,_ he could see the old precinct he used to work out of, doors broken off and what looked like indistinct Shadow blobs clinging to the outside.  The moon hung low in a red and black striped sky, like it was going to fall from the air and crush them at any second.

Adachi had been wondering whose dungeon this was; whose mind was twisted and warped enough to produce a place with blood everywhere.

He had no idea it would be his own.


	24. Chapter Nineteen – The World is Full of Shit

Rise could not help but let out a faint noise, glancing over at the window to her room.  She had been released by the hospital that morning, and had wanted to contact the others, before she saw the disturbance at Junes on the news.  Instead, she stayed huddled in front of the TV, clutching her cell phone close and expecting a phone call any second.  If this really was the guy, like the news kept saying… she wished she had been released from the hospital sooner.  She wished she could do something other than feel helpless.

Now, however… something felt _wrong_ all of a sudden, like things had suddenly shifted, and not in a good way.

She shuffled over to the window to look out, only to see that it had started raining.  Her hands came to rest on the sill, nails digging into the wood.

"…please be okay, guys…"

~.oOOo.~

Adachi let out a pained grunt as he collided into a trashcan, slumping over onto the ground a moment later.  This was a first; the Shadows before had not been that intent on beating up their owners before they went berserk, but of course his own had to go and break the mold.  Kanji came up behind him, trying to put him in a lock, but the Shadow shrugged him off with embarrassing ease, shoving the bruiser teen away before planting his foot on Adachi's head.  He let out a grunt as the side of his face was ground into the pavement, trying to glare up around the shoe.

"C'mon!" the Shadow crowed, his grin widening.  "At least make this a challenge?  You keep makin' it too easy to kick you around, I'm going to get bored!"

"Stop it, right now!" Naoto exclaimed, leveling her gun at the Shadow.  He turned slightly to look at her over his shoulder, amused.

"Why should I?" he asked, grinding Adachi's face harder against the ground.  "It's not like you're not enjoying this.  Am I wrong?"

The Shadow finally took his foot off of him, only to snap it straight into the detective's gut.  Adachi groaned in pain, curling up on himself as his Shadow finally strolled away from him.  He let out a pained cough as Yukiko went to his side to check on him, and the Shadow continued until he could hop up onto the top of a car, sitting on it like it was a throne.  Naoto kept her gun trained on him the entire time, in case he thought to try and attack Adachi again.

"It's kinda pathetic, really; how you all gathered around me like I was some kinda hero," the Shadow continued after a moment, waving a dismissive hand.  "Anyone with half a brain can see me for the trash I am.  Hell, if the roles were reversed, you'd be up my ass, accusing me of being nothing more than a monster."

Shadow Adachi leaned back, letting his legs dangle back and forth.  "It's kinda interesting, really, seeing all these murders, and all just because some guy thought to shove people in here," he said, before he leaned forward, resting his head in a hand.  "But really, is it that guy's fault they got killed?  This world reacts to other people's thoughts and emotions; you've all seen it.  Really, the real murderers are us, letting our thoughts and emotions manipulate what goes on in this world."

The Shadow let out a laugh, spreading his arms out.  "I guess that means we all killed those people, hunh?"

There was a pause, before all eyes turned to Adachi as he pushed himself up, rubbing at his face.  He noticed the stares directed at him in the next moment, and let out an annoyed noise.

"H-hey, don't look at me like that!"

"I don't know… the fact that you could even have those kind of thoughts…" Saki began.

"Isn't that kinda inappropriate for a cop?" Kanji finished.

Adachi looked like he was going to snap, but his Shadow beat him to it, letting out a laugh.  "What, you think cops just join the force for truth and justice?  Don't be so damn naïve!"

His grin broadened as he leaned back, pulling his weapon from inside his jacket.  "You want to know why I joined the force?  It was so I could carry one of these.  That's all," he sneered, snickering loudly.  "To be honest, I thought joining the force would be fun, but everyone's so stupid… they actually thought this dumbass was the one going around murdering everyone."

He gestured at Namatame with his gun, before leveling it at him.  "Maybe I should just put the idiot out of his misery, just to save some trouble…"

"Don't!" Naoto shouted, raising her gun so it was aimed right at the Shadow's face.  He did not seem at all threatened, and instead just laughed it off.

"What, going through that kind of trouble for trash like this?" the Shadow asked.  "Why?  Because it's the right thing to do?  Because it's the world's law?"  He laughed again.  "What a load of bull.  This world is full of shit just like him.  Just look at him!  He could have succeeded in life!  He had that magical ticket called 'talent', and he threw it all away, just like all of you are doing by being here."

He jumped up, standing on top of the car then.  One hand slipped into a pocket, while the one holding the gun reached up, tapping the barrel against the side of his head.

"Just ask the other me!  He knows it," the Shadow sneered.  "If you don't have talent, you either accept it or keep denying it until you die.  Once you realize that, it's the ultimate despair.  The ultimate game over."

"That's bullshit!" Kanji shouted, though the others eyes were on Adachi.  He was shaking, trying not to listen, trying to ignore what he was saying.  Everything coming out of the Shadow's mouth was something he had thought of at one point or another; actually hearing it… it sounded ridiculous, but at the same time…

The Shadow's eyes focused on him, as if able to sense what he was thinking.  "You know it; don't deny it," he sneered.  "Study hard, get into a good school, get into a good college, get a good job, find a good woman, have a good family, and let the cycle repeat with your children.  That's the way things are supposed to be, aren't they?  But no one tells you that you can have all the brains in the world, but without talent, you're less than third rate trash."

Adachi let out a faint noise, struggling to find something to say to that, but he just could not find the words, not with everyone staring at him, expecting him to do or say something.  His Shadow really did not seem to like that, and he let out an annoyed noise, slamming his foot down on top of the car.

"Say _something,_ dammit!" he snapped.  "Or are you too much of a damn coward to admit that everything I've said until now is true!?"

The Shadow stabbed a finger at Saki, making her take a step back.

"You've wanted to kill that dumb bitch from day one!" he shouted.  "It's because of this bitch that you've been dragged into this stupid part you're supposed to play out!  Leader.  Sensei.  What a load of bullshit!"

"S-sensei…" Teddie squeaked, peering out from around Kanji.  Adachi could not look at them; he could not look at any of them.  He knew the kind of looks he would get – that he was a detective and he was supposed to know better than this.  Was it his fault that his experiences in life made him feel that way?

"I never wanted to be a damn hero," the Shadow sneered.  "I just wanted to live my damn life alone, without anyone to bother me.  But you brats dragged me into your little game… and for what?  To stop a murderer?  Like you brats could do anything!  You _can't_ do anything on your own; the only time you guys pull your shit together is when I'm around.  Just how pathetic are you!?"

_"Shut up!"_

Adachi did not even realize he had said anything until he found himself on his feet.  The pain from the kick to his gut hit him in the next second, and he flinched, nearly falling down again.  He wrapped an arm around his stomach instead as the Shadow's grin widened on his face.

"You just ate it up too, didn't you?" he demanded.  "All that damn attention… but they expected you to actually _do_ something too, even when you didn't want to!  And none of them would listen to you unless they felt it was necessary to, so what the hell was the damn point?  Even when you did finally get someone to listen to you, they had to go and ruin it by telling the truth!"

The Shadow let out a laugh, planting a hand over his face, but his beady yellow eyes still showed through his fingers.

"You wanna know something about the truth? " he continued, near giggling as he spoke.  "You see it, right there before you all the time, staring you in the face, but is it really the truth, or is it just your own interpretation of it?  I would have lived a happy lie knowing that Seiki was just a cute girl, and that woulda been the truth for me, if you _idiots_ had just kept your damn mouths shut!"

He lifted his gun then, firing off three bullets in rapid succession.  Two planted themselves in the ground at Naoto and Kanji's feet, forcing them and the others behind them to take a step back.  The third whizzed by Adachi's cheek, grazing along before he jerked away at the last possible second.  He fell to his knees again, clamping a hand over the side of his face as the smell of burning flesh reached his nose.

"It'd just be so much easier if we just gave up on reality," the Shadow said, almost sounding bored now.  "There's nothing we can get from it, and believing our own lies is so much easier anyway."

He let out a snort, spreading his arms wide.  "Hey, here's an idea: why don't we just all become Shadows?  Wouldn't that make everything better?  After all, your Shadows were enjoying life a hell of a lot more than you were!"

"You can't possibly believe that!" Saki shouted at the Shadow, but that only got him to laugh again, that cold, cruel laugh that Adachi did not know he was capable of.  At this point, he was getting sick of hearing it, but he cut it short that time, stabbing a finger at him.

"Just ask this loser if he believes it!" he bellowed.  "He's me, after all!"

There it was: that moment that all the others had gone through before him.  Adachi felt everyone's eyes on him, dimly heard Naoto begging him not to say it, but at the same time he could not focus on it.  All he could see at that moment was himself, staring down at him with those glowing yellow eyes, the fog hanging thick around him.  He was _begging_ him to deny him, to let him cut loose and be as free as he wanted to be.  The only problem with that was, he could not deny anything he had said…

…except that last part.  That last part…

"…that's not me."

His voice was quiet when he said it, to the point where the others did not even realize he had spoken the words of pain until his Shadow started cackling.  The Shadows that were clinging to the twisted version of his old precinct started cackling too, wrenching themselves off the walls and flying toward the car that Shadow Adachi stood on.  He spread his arms open wide, welcoming them as they splattered onto him one after another, encasing him in a massive, black sphere.  The others stumbled away as the sphere lifted itself, hovering up above them… before suddenly _eyes_ opened on it, twenty-one pairs in all, not that any of them were in the frame of mind to count them.

A hand suddenly reached out of the sphere, clawed and lined with plates of metal, pulling itself out from within.  It was human-like, at least, with its head obscured by a mask that might have been Izanagi's if it was not for the _massive eyeball_ right in the middle of it.  It was oriented vertically, taking up its entire face and roving everywhere, before its lid closed, and its clawed hands came up protectively over it.  The Shadow did not seem to have legs, almost like they disappeared into the hovering sphere.

 _"I am the Shadow of the true self,"_ the Shadow's voice echoed throughout the room, making some of the windows on the twisted buildings tremble.  The eyes on the sphere blinked, and they all had to back away again as blood began to pour out from all twenty-one pairs.  _"There is no point to the reality that lies before us.  We are better suited to live as we wish to, in blissful ignorance."_

"Stop saying crap like that!" Adachi snapped, fumbling up to his feet.  His stomach still hurt, and his face was still sore from being stepped on and shot at, but that did not keep him from reaching up a hand for his Arcana.

_"Izanagi!"_

…and nothing.  His persona did not answer him.  Adachi brought his hand down, staring at it like it betrayed him.  The others managed to pull themselves together faster than he was, rallying their Personae behind them for an attack.

"Adachi-san, stand back!" Naoto ordered, her gun still at the ready.  "We faced our Shadows to obtain our Persona… obviously if we lose sight of what gave us that power, the Persona could become a Shadow again!  You're useless right now!"

_Useless._

Adachi stood there, too numb with shock to say anything.  They had called him useless before, and it did not affect him because he had never actually _been_ useless until this moment.  The others sent their Personae forward, even Teddie's Kintoki Douji was rolling off for battle, and he… he could not do a damn thing to help.

He really was useless.

The Shadow did not even seem fazed by the approaching Personae, and spell after spell shot out at them, hitting each and every one of them with what they were weak against.  Saki screamed as lightning knocked Tsunade back, and she stumbled on her feet, clutching on to Yukiko who was shivering as she tried to ignore the fact that Konohana Sakuya had nearly been turned into a brick of ice.  Kanji was knocked clear off his feet as Take-Mikazuchi was hit with wind, and Teddie whimpered in pain as Kintoki Douji was electrocuted as well.

Only Naoto managed to stay on her feet, her Persona lacking a weakness.  The small Persona shot around the Shadow, striking out with his huge sword like an annoying wasp.  His attack only got the Shadow to let out an annoyed noise, and the hands fell away from the creature's face.  As soon as Sukuna-Hikona was right in front of it, a blast of energy shot out of the eye, hitting the Persona point blank.  Naoto let out a pained gasp, instantly crumbling to the floor as her Persona vanished.

"Naoto!" Kanji shouted, scrambling over to cover her as Take-Mikazuchi recovered.  The lightning shaped bludgeon shot out, intent on cleaving the Shadow in two, only to have it caught by the creature's hands instead.  Take-Mikazuchi tried to wrest the weapon free, only to be blasted with wind again, knocking the Persona over.  Kanji let out a pained noise as he hovered over Naoto, struggling to stay conscious as his Persona started to flicker.

"You're getting on my last stuffing!" Teddie shouted at the Shadow, his Persona rolling around before finally springing up into the air, tomahawk missile in hand.  The Persona rushed forward, shoving the missile right onto the sphere and letting it explode… only the Shadow _reflected_ the attack, sending Kintoki Douji flying through one of the buildings.  Teddie, who had not fully recovered from his own ordeal yet, wavered unsteadily on his feet, before flopping over with a faint squeak.

Saki and Yukiko were not about to give up, even though the majority of their team was down for the count.  Konohana Sakuya shot forward first, her flames lighting up around the Shadow, but not seeming to bother it all that much.  The Shadow's hand snapped out, smacking her away like a fly, just as Tsunade came up for an attack.  She did not get the chance to let a spell loose, however; instead the Shadow's hands snapped out again, the eye on his face opening wide as the hands closed tightly around the Persona's neck.

Saki let out a pained noise, clawing at her own throat as she fought to breathe.  Adachi snapped out of it then, staring at her with wide eyes as Yukiko tried to help her, desperately tried to get Konohana Sakuya up and moving again.  The Shadow cast a spell that left a huge chunk of ice slamming into the Persona's chest, and she flickered out of existence as Yukiko fell to the floor in pain.

"Stop…" Adachi began his voice shaking.  He ran out, standing just under his own Shadow, throwing his arms out.  "I said _stop!_ Leave them alone, dammit!"

The eye on the Shadow's face swiveled down to glare at him, before finally tossing Tsunade aside like a piece of garbage.  Adachi did not get the chance to see if Saki was all right; wind magic suddenly shot up around him, lifting him easily off his feet before slamming him back into the ground.  Something snapped in his arm, and he let out a howl of pain, trying to crawl away.  Bricks of ice came pounding down on him, preventing his escape, followed immediately with the roar of flames, melting the ice and leaving him with painful burns.  Lightning followed immediately after, and Adachi felt his world spinning around him as the laid there, completely helpless.

When the magical assault finally ended, Adachi let out a pained cough, rolling over onto his back.  Even that little action sucked the life out of him, and he could feel his vision dimming, darkening around the edges.  His head flopped uselessly to the side, checking on Saki and… she was still alive, if barely.  Good… at least she would be able to get out of there.

After all, the Shadow was part of the human too, right?  If he died, which he was sure heading that way, she would be safe.  He let out a faint chuckle, coughing up blood in the process, and letting his eyes fall closed.  At least… they would survive… right…?

~.oOOo.~

He was pretty sure he died.

It was the only explanation as to why he felt so comfortable, despite the beating he had just taken.  Hell, his arm did not even hurt, and he knew that was supposed to be broken.  Still, he was reluctant to open his eyes, least his little bit of "Heaven" was not very heavenly.  He probably did not deserve much in the afterlife, but the least he could get was a nice little ghost wife to look after him.  That was not too much to ask for, right?

Someone giggled then, and he felt a gentle hand stroking his face.  Oh, yeah, score…!

"You dumbass," a familiar voice said in a teasing tone.  "You're not dead."

Adachi froze, but he did not want to open his eyes, not after the last time he had seen Seiki.  He was afraid he would be looking at a corpse, instead of the beautiful lie he had gotten to know the past couple days.  She only laughed at him again, running her fingers through his messy hair, but it did little to help him relax.

"How can I not be?" he finally asked.  "You're here."

"That's because I'm in your heart," she explained softly.  "Don't you feel it, right here?"

She reached down, pressing her hand against his chest.  He wanted to call her crazy, but… he did feel something, soft, gentle, and warm, deep inside of him.  His hand reached up before he could stop himself, clasping her hand over his chest.

"I don't get it…" he finally murmured, loosening his grip on her a little so he could feel how soft and gentle her hand was.  There was nothing rotting, she was all in one piece, but he was still afraid to look.  He had heard that story before, about the dumbass that looked back at his dead wife and lost her forever.  Still, damn; he picked the worst times to be a coward.

It was easy to imagine the smile on her face as she answered, "Remember what I said, about reaching out to people?  Forming bonds with others helps your world grow, you know.  You have so many people around you that care about you in their own way.  If you reach out to them, you'll be able to see that."

Reach out to them, huh?  He was pretty sure that most of their little group hated his guts now, especially after all the crap his Shadow had just spouted.  All those bottled up thoughts and emotions… there was a reason why he did not try to reach out to people.  No one would enjoy hearing what he really felt, not even nice guys like Dojima.

"I think it's too late now."

She let out a laugh again, mussing up his already messy hair.  "You don't know that," she said softly.  "After all, you reached out to me."

Adachi did not exactly have an argument for that, and he let his head fall to the side, feeling that it was resting on her lap.  For the first time in awhile, he felt… safe; there was comfort and warmth in this place, and he could feel it deep in his chest.  He could not even remember the last time he felt that; it sure as hell was not with his parents, or anyone he had been forced to endure in the past.  Hell, it almost felt like something out of a manga, and if he was brave enough to open his eyes, he half expected cherry blossoms and glittering little bubbles flying everywhere.  There was even a song playing just at the edge of his hearing, steadily staring to get a little louder…

"You hear it, don't you?" Seiki asked him softly after a moment.

"That music?"

She let out a faint sound, resting her other hand on her shoulder.  "Don't worry, okay?  I'm leaving you in good hands now."

The feeling of her behind him slowly faded away, and he felt like he was falling then, disappearing further into his own unconscious…


	25. Interlude

The first time I ended up in that place… well, I didn't know what to make of it.  I mean, how many people can say they've actually gotten the chance to see the inside of their own mind, right?  Everything was weird from the moment I drifted into that place; once the "falling" feeling stopped, I realized I was sitting upright, like I was in a chair.  I heard the hum of the motor next, and the feeling of sitting the wrong way in a moving vehicle after that.  I think I still thought I was dead, and I was on some road to the afterlife, 'cause I still didn't want to open my eyes.

I'll tell you what, though; getting smacked in the face with a heavy book gets you to open your eyes _really_ quick.

I remember yelping and falling back against the limo seat, and I vaguely remember the old man shouting something that wasn't the name the kid eventually gave me.  To this day, I still don't know what the hell he called him, and every time I ask I get vague half answers.  All I know is when I finally got my face to stop throbbing, there was an old man with a ridiculously, _inhumanly_ long nose sitting in front of me at a small fortune teller's table.  In the seat next to him was a kid with light blue hair, the owner of that damn book.  He did not look much older than Saki, despite the fact that his glasses and the attendant's uniform were trying to make him appear older.  I remember how damn smug he looked back then too; a cocky bastard right from the start.

"Please forgive my assistant," the old man said.  "He is still in training, and not familiar with proper etiquette when it comes to the handling of guests."

"I'll say!" I remember shouting, still holding onto my nose, even though it didn't really hurt anymore.

The old man let out a chuckle, folding his hands under that huge nose, staring right at me with those big, bulging eyes of his.  And you know; I remember even from the beginning, no matter how weird this guy looked, he never creeped me out.  Not even once.

"Allow me to extend a proper greeting to you then, honored guest:

"Welcome, to the Velvet Room."


	26. Chapter Twenty – A Velvet Shade of Blue

"Velvet… Room…?"

Adachi stared around him, mouth open like a fish.  The name "velvet" was well earned, seeing as everything around him seemed to be upholstered with the stuff.  "Room" was a bit of a stretch though, unless one considered the passenger cab of a stretch limo an actual room.  It was really elegant, whatever it actually was, complete with a full self service bar squished next to the long nosed man's table.  Really, it was the kind of place that someone like him would need to save a full years worth of paychecks to even be allowed to look at, not to mention be inside.

He glanced behind him, seeing that the driver's cab was completely closed off, and he could just make out the faint outline of someone driving, but not much else.  After a moment, he shook his head, turning back to the long nose and his brat of an attendant.

"What is this place?"

The old man smiled, looking like he had been through this explanation so many times before, yet did not seem to mind it one bit.

"This place exists between dream and reality," he explained, which… was not much of an explanation as far as Adachi was concerned, "mind and matter.  It is a room that only those who are bound by a 'contract' may enter."

"Such was your fate to enter here, but you could not be reached," the kid spoke up, his tone flatter than the expression on his face.  "Your heart was so closed off to everything around you, that it was impossible for even us to reach you."

"You have a very heavy destiny," the old man continued, "as well as powers that need tempering.  We of this Room are to assist you."

Adachi looked back and forth between the two of them.  It was obvious the kid did not like him at all – he had yet to even look at him after hitting him with that damn book – but the old man seemed pretty ambivalent.  Something told him his initial impression that he had done this multiple times before had been on the nose (dammit, he was going to be making puns about that nose every time he saw him), and he had to wonder just how many times weird stuff like this had happened before.

"But where are my manners?" the old man asked.  "My name is Igor.  My assistant here is M—"

"Michael," the kid interrupted.  "You can call me Michael."

Igor shot him a look, as if he were a director telling the kid he was not following the script.  After a moment, he shrugged slightly, changing how his hands were folded under his nose.

"Before we can continue, I will need you to sign this," Igor said, and with a snap of his fingers, a contract appeared on the table before him.  Adachi leaned over to peer at it, realizing it was probably the shortest thing he ever had been presented to sign in his life, with the only stipulation being he was responsible for the consequences of his actions.  That was it: no expectations, no if or else; just that he be responsible for himself.  He hesitated a moment, glancing between Igor and Michael, before hesitantly picking up the pen next to the contract and scribbling his name on the paper quickly; what the hell, right?

The contract disappeared as soon as he leaned away, the pen also vanishing from his hand.

"Now then," Igor began, a mysterious smile on his face.  "You are already aware of the power of Persona, and unconsciously answered its call; no small feat without guidance from another."

"Your powers are different from the others on your team," Michael picked up, not sounding like he approved very much.  Then again, considering his greeting, Adachi got the impression that there was not much the kid approved of.  "Yours is the Wild Card; through your bonds with others, you gain additional power."

"This power, of course, comes in the form of additional Personae," Igor continued.  "Through each new bond you form with another person, a new Persona is granted to you.  We of the Velvet Room will aid you in tempering this power, though there may come a time when you will not need our assistance."

Forming bonds… Adachi felt his stomach fall down into his shoes.  That sounded all well and good, but considering his current circumstances, he did not see how that would help him much.  The only "bond" he made was with a dead little girl, and he was not even sure if that counted.  Michael seemed to sense his uncertainty, a faint smirk coming to his face… though Adachi got the distinct impression the kid was pissed off instead of amused.  What the hell was his problem…?

"Bonds can transcend even death," he explained, opening his book.  The pages flipped through under their own power, stopping on a page with a death's head on it.  A tarot card of the same type hovered out of the book a moment later, rotating in front of Michael's face.  "Through your bond with Souzen Seiki, you have obtained the power of the Death Arcana.  The power it gives you should be sufficient in aiding you in your current situation."

That smirk did not leave his face, but he almost seemed… sad as he watched the card in front of him, before closing the book, the card disappearing with it.

"With your power, and the knowledge of yourself you have gained, you should be able to regain control of your own Self," Igor explained.

"Should you survive," Michael began, not sounding like he was betting on that happening, "I will personally call you to this room again.  Because of your closed heart, the time you have left is limited.  We will need to do everything in our power to make certain you will be prepared for the coming battles."

Adachi wanted to ask what the heck was that supposed to mean, but it was clear this conversation was done with.  Igor waved a hand, that mysterious smile on his face.

"Well then, until we meet again…"

He shouted to wait, that he still had questions, or at least tried to.  He knew his mouth was moving, but no sound came out as the Velvet Room faded into white…

Ungodly pain hit him in the next moment, reminding him that yes he was still alive and yes, his arm was still broken.  Adachi groaned as his eyes forced themselves open, staring up at his Shadow above him.  Not much had changed, other than the fact that Saki was apparently still trying to fight the thing, with trying being the operative word.  His Shadow had Tsunade by the neck again, hitting the Persona repeatedly with blasts of lightning.  He could hear Saki screaming in pain with each hit, and Adachi let out a growl as he rolled over, pushing himself up with his good arm.

"I-I… I thought I told you… to knock that shit off…?"

His Shadow paused then, glancing down at him with disinterest.  _"So you still live,"_ he noted, tossing Tsunade away casually, like she was just a piece of trash.  Saki let out a groan behind him, and Adachi glanced over to see her falling to her knees.  She gave him a helpless look, silently begging him to do something, even if it was just run away.

If only it were that simple.

Adachi groaned as he forced himself to his feet, his limbs shaking from the last lightning blast he had been hit with.  His vision swam, and he had to plant a hand over his eyes; he was not going to last very long.  Hopefully the long nose and the kid were real people, and he had not hallucinated the whole thing.

 _"I am your Shadow.  What do you hope to do against me?"_ his Shadow asked.  _"Burn to ashes!"_

Fire sprang up around him, and Adachi threw an arm over his face, but… it did not seem to hurt?  He lowered his arm, staring wide eyed as the flames just kept their distance, like an invisible shield was blocking them.  The attack finally died off, and he was not the only one confused; his Shadow backed off, the main eye of the creature widening.

_"What…?"_

Adachi stared at the scorch marks around him; the bond he formed was supposed to give him a new Persona, right?  Maybe that Persona was protecting him right now.  He glanced back as Saki let out a noise, and he saw her struggling to her feet.

"Adachi-san!" she shouted at him.  "Just run!  Go!"

He hesitated, looking at her, taking in how beat up she was, how much of a struggle it was for her to stay conscious.  He saw the others, laying on the floor, beat up and bruised and barely breathing.  He turned back and saw his Shadow, a bleeding monstrosity that saw everything, but could not comprehend it, and in turn saw himself in it.

He really was an ugly person, hunh?

Adachi let out a breath, standing up straight for what was probably the first time in years.  His good hand reached up, adjusting his glasses so they were settled squarely over his eyes.  Funny… was it him, or did the thick fog around seem a little clearer?  Whatever; it did not matter at the moment.

"I'm done running."

He reached a hand up, and this time an Arcana card responded.  Not his, of course, but the grinning head of Death floated down to him, bringing a name to his mind along with it.

_"White Rider!"_

His hand snapped around it, shattering the card like glass.  A whinny echoed through the air, and with a burst of blue, a white horse reared out of Adachi's soul.  The horse's body was dotted with open eyes and seemed to ride on its own trail of fog, but that was probably the least terrifying thing about it.  Its rider was Pestilence itself, a grinning skeleton cloaked in darkness and crowned with gold.  A bow was held in its boney grip, and the Rider raised it high as the horse reared back in defiance toward the Shadow.

His Shadow hovered back, all eyes opening wide on its form in surprise.  _"How do you have another Persona?!"_

Adachi answered by flinging his good arm out, and White Rider responded by letting loose a jet of flame that engulfed the Shadow.  _That_ actually hurt it, some of the eyes squinting closed in pain, shutting off the flow of blood from them.  Its clawed hands snapped out, trying to scratch at the Rider, only to have the horse dance away from the attack like it was insignificant.

 _"Damn you…!  You damn eyesore!  Just die already!"_ his Shadow bellowed, digging its claws into the ground and floating back, the eye on its head opening wide and letting loose a beam of energy.  It narrowly missed Adachi and his Persona, and he flung his arm up again to protect his face from the searing heat.  The Rider responded with him barely having to think about it, pulling an arrow from a quiver on its back and letting it fly.  It lodged itself in the main eye of the Shadow, making it fall to the ground in pain.

"Sorry, didn't you hear me?" Adachi asked, the tone of his voice coming out sticky sweet and innocent, before he dropped the nonchalant tone, his voice taking a sharp, serious edge.  "I said I'm done running.  I'm not taking the fucking easy way out by dying either."

The Shadow let out a groan, digging its claws into the ground again as it pushed itself up, but it could not quite get back up in the air.  Instead it held itself up just above the ground, all the eyes that were still open glaring down at Adachi.

 _"You bastard…!"_ it hissed at him.  _"You can't even stand there without denying everything I've said!"_

It let out a scream then, the sphere _slamming_ back to the ground and cracking open, oozing blood and filth everywhere.  The claws dragged along the ground as it pushed itself upright, massive lengths of blood red cloth lined with black that pulsed like veins sprouting from its shoulders.  It continued to push itself until it was leaning back, arms contorting until its shoulder blades practically touched behind it, before the head split open.  The arrow in the eye fell out as it floated independently of the body, only attached with a fine cord.

 _"Your efforts are pointless!"_ the Shadow bellowed, and Adachi could swear he almost heard a different voice underneath.  _"This world is pointless!  Let it all disappear into the fog!  Let all become Shadows!"_

Adachi glared, tightening the hand on his good arm into a fist.

"I said shut _up!"_

White Rider's horse reared back, and the specter held up his bow again.  Bursts of light suddenly shot up around the Shadow, runes that Adachi could not read spreading out along the floor.  Cards of light shot up around it, spinning around and around, before converging on the Shadow.  It let out a terrifying scream, and he could see the hovering eye crumbling into dust before the spell exploded on the Shadow.

When the light cleared, the fog that had blanketed the area had near vanished, to the point where through the glasses, it was just a faint mist as usual.  His Shadow had returned to normal and had fallen to his knees, while faint gobs of the other Shadows were slinking off to the far corners of the room, only to fade away before they even got there.  Adachi let out a breath, and White Rider disappeared to the sea of his unconscious as he hobbled over to his other self.

"Hey… c'mon, get up," he said, and his Shadow looked up to him before wordlessly complying.  "'Ya know… you're a sly bastard.  You knew there was only one thing you said I disagreed with, and you only said it so I would say those words."

His Shadow smirked slightly, but Adachi shook his head, letting out a faint sigh.  "…I don't want this world to disappear.  I don't want us all to become Shadows… that's just nuts," he said.  "Yeah, this world sucks.  Yeah, I don't get along with… well, anyone.  I hate a lot of the crap I deal with; I hate my coworkers, I hate having to dive into this world… I hate all of this.  Everything is such bullshit… this world is full of shit, but I still have to deal with it, and just smile when I really just want to scream and run away from everything."

He hesitated, before looking away.  "…but that's me.  That's all me.  When it comes right down to it, I can blame everyone and everything all I want, but in the end everything is all me."

Again he found himself hesitating, before reaching over to his Shadow, pulling his idiot double into a hug.  He could not even remember ever hugging anyone, and it was weird to be doing it.  At the same time… he could feel his Shadow's hands come up, pressing against his back as he returned it, and Adachi shook when he realized how much he needed that.  He needed some kind of compassion in his life, even if it was coming from himself.

"It's not the world that's shitty, it's me," he said softly.  "So maybe instead of blaming everything else, maybe I just need to find a way to like myself a little more."

He could feel his Shadow give a faint nod at that, and suddenly Adachi was holding empty air as his other self disappeared in a wash of blue.  Izanagi was hovering over him once again, that mask of his impassive, but still gazing down on him.  A tired smile crossed the detective's face, and he reached over, holding on to his broken arm.

"…sorry about that, man," he murmured, and Izanagi just gave a faint nod, returning to his soul.

Adachi's eyes fell closed at the familiar presence rejoining him, before he finally shuffled around to gaze at the carnage his Shadow wrought.  Saki was still conscious somehow, staring at him like she could not believe what she had just witnessed.  Kanji was just starting to stir, but Yukiko and Naoto were still unconscious, as was Namatame.  Adachi just took in all of them one by one, realizing they were really in no shape to travel back to the outside of the television.  They were going to need either some heavy duty healing spells, or a nap.

Which, Adachi's body decided it wanted the nap right there and then.

As he collapsed into a heap on the bloody ground, he swore he could hear the distant sound of a familiar laugh, and a pair of thin fingers running themselves through his messed up hair, before darkness finally claimed him.

~.oOOo.~

_"…sorry, I'm going to be late again tonight."_

Seito did not even blink at those familiar words; how often he had heard them from his own parents' mouths, until they stopped bothering letting him know when they were coming home?  Until it became obvious that their times home would be so few and far between he was surprised when they were around.  He merely nodded soundlessly, going through the usual motions; his uncle was just like them, unsurprisingly.

"Is everything okay?" he asked softly, more out of courtesy than curiosity.

On the other end of the line, his uncle let out an exhausted sigh.  _"My partner nearly got himself killed chasing a suspect."_

"Adachi-san?" Seito asked, and that time the curious tone of his voice was genuine.

 _"Yeah, he'll be fine,"_ Dojima replied, though from his tone it did not sound like Adachi would be fine for very long.  _"But I need to stay at the hospital and get his report when he wakes up, so I won't be back until tomorrow night.  Tell Nanako I'll read her the bedtime story I promised her then, okay?  I'll bring home Junes to make up for it."_

"Okay," Seito replied, murmuring his goodbyes, before hanging up the phone.  He turned back to where Nanako was sitting at the table, only instead of staring at the TV, she was looking up at him hopefully.  He shook his head, and after a moment she just looked away, trying to hide the dejected look on her face.

She was still silent as he went over to sit back down at the table, and did not speak up again until a commercial came on.

"Did daddy say anything about me?" she asked hopefully, not taking her eyes off the screen.

"…no, sorry," Seito murmured.  What was the point in telling her otherwise?  It would just be another broken promise; he learned long ago not to believe in them.  Again, she was silent, before:

"Does he like being with criminals more than he likes being with me?"

He glanced at her at that, contemplating an answer.

"…maybe."

Again, there was silence, before Nanako suddenly stood up, rounding the table and sitting down next to him instead.  She curled up against his side, and Seito wrapped an arm around her protectively, a small smile coming to his face.

~.oOOo.~

He could hear that song again, drifting slowly into his ears as he clawed his way into consciousness.  It really was a lovely song, and he could not help but have a private appreciation for whomever it was that was singing it.  They had to be a damn knockout; he was picturing a tall, buxom beauty, the kind people traveled across countries to see, and not just for the set of pipes they had on them.  He smiled lazily, just listening to that music, and…

"If you don't get up, I'll hit you again."

Adachi's eyes sprang open immediately at the familiar voice, finding himself in a room tinted a familiar shade of blue.  It was not the same as the limo however; instead, it looked like it may have been some kind of elevator at some point, though it had long ago broken down.  The gate on it was tarnished and rusted, and the doors that lined the perimeter of the room were all broken and caved in.  Other than that, it was just a wide open space with a deep blue hue, and the faint outline of a moon shining in through the gate.

He forced himself up to his feet after a moment, looking over at the only other occupant.  Michael had that damn heavy book tucked under his arm, and an expressionless look on his face, almost like he was disappointed he missed out on the opportunity to hit him again.  After a moment he simply shrugged, and Adachi got to see that what he originally thought were just ornaments on his uniform were actually headphones, as they swung back and forth from the small movement.

"I told you I would call you back should you survive," Michael continued, as if Adachi had asked what was going on.  "Congratulations on that."

He did not sound very happy about it.

"Is this still the Velvet Room?" Adachi asked, though he much rather wanted to find out what bug crawled up this kid's ass instead.

"Yes and no," Michael replied.  "I've asked Igor to affix this room to a deeper part of your unconscious, so I can train you without doing too much damage to your physical form."

He sounded a little too _happy_ about that one.  Adachi made a face, taking a step back as the attendant pulled his book out from under his arm, letting it fall open, the pages turning under their own power.  A card with a broken tower appeared from the book, floating up until it was right in front of Michael's face.

_"Persona."_

The card shattered, and a massive, old world Japanese general appeared.  He held a sword in each hand, with one slung over his shoulder.  The Persona gazed down at Adachi, a smirk creeping onto his scarred face as the detective took another step backward.

"Because you are so late to becoming aware of your powers, you will need this training," Michael began, sounding far too pleased, to the point that Adachi got the distinct impression "training" meant more "beating the crap out of him".  That impression became a reality in the next minute, as the Persona took a swipe at him with one of the swords, forcing him to scramble away or be diced.  He tried to fumble away to a corner, to a wall, something; but while there were crumbled doors lining the space, they were not _attached_ to anything but the floor.

Michael stood in place, not moving an inch, but it… almost looked like he was _smiling,_ never mind his expression had not changed, and Adachi bit out a curse.  Damn, smug little shit kid…!

"Your first lesson will be learning to not only summon quickly, but also to change Personae on the fly," he announced as the Persona shot after him, blades flashing and forcing Adachi to retreat.  "We've already begun.  I suggest doing _something_ before Yoshitsune decides to stop taking it easy on you."

~.oOOo.~

In the far corners of the unconscious, a single individual in a blue attendant's uniform stood out of sight, a faint smile on his face as he watched the entertainment before him.  That smile only widened slightly as Yoshitsune struck out, smacking Adachi on the rear end with the flat of both swords and making the detective flop over like a fish.  Michael let out a tired sigh, shaking his head sadly, but the person's attention was drawn away from the comedic act before the sarcastic remark could be let loose.

"You are enjoying this, I see."

The attendant inclined his head as Igor came up beside him, not bothering to comment on how weird it was to see the old man standing on those knobby legs that did not look like they could support him.  His wide, beady eyes stared down at him despite the fact that he was shorter than the attendant, silently reprimanding him.

"I won't tell you not to watch how things proceed," he began as a loud yelp came from the room before them, "but I must remind you to stay out of sight.  You are not ready to take on a guest, and contact with this guest may be more damaging than you realize."

"Of course," the attendant replied, though there was a small, mysterious smile on his face, as if he were really saying he could not promise that.  Igor stared him down again, before letting out a tired sigh.

This was what he got for letting _her_ anywhere near a guest.

~.oOOo.~

Adachi was not sure which beating he received made him sorer, the one in the TV or the one in the Velvet Room.  Michael and his Persona did not let up on him until he had managed to get Izanagi out in less than a minute.  Swapping between Izanagi and White Rider just sort of flowed on its own after that, and they continued to strike back and forth until Michael was finally satisfied.  Adachi had almost wanted to have Izanagi take a cheap shot at the little shit, just for all the misery he put him through over who the hell knew how many hours, but his unconsciousness faded before he got the chance.  Instead he found his eyes cracking open, bright sunlight on his face making it hard to see.  The pain hit him the next minute, and his free hand fumbled around trying to find something, anything that would make it stop.

A hand settled over his wandering one after a moment, and a shadow fell over his face, blocking out the sunlight.  It took a moment for his eyes to adjust, only to see a familiar head of crimped hair.

"Saki…?" he croaked out, his throat feeling bone dry.  She reached down then, pressing a button on the hospital bed he was laying in and raising the back, forcing him to sit up.  A glass of water was pressed into his hand next, and he drank from it eagerly.  He did not stop until it was gone, and he flopped back against the bed, sucking in air for a moment.

"What happened?" he mumbled.  "How long was I out?"

"A week," Saki answered softly.  "We were starting to get worried.  The nurses had to keep Dojima-san from punching you in the head to wake you up a few times…"

Adachi let out an exasperated noise; yeah, that sounded about right.  Silence reigned between them for a long moment, before she finally spoke again:

"…you wanted to kill me."

He hesitated at that, and he found himself looking down at his broken arm, finding the cast it was encased in much more fascinating.  It looked like someone had decided to doodle on it while he was asleep, and there were hearts and stars… and was that a picture of Loveline?  Did Dojima seriously bring his daughter in to doodle on him while the nurses talked him out of punching him awake?

"I… thought it, a couple times," he admitted faintly, flinching as he tried to shift his position.  His bones were aching from being unconscious for so long on top of the beating he took.  It took him a moment before he finally looked up at her.  "I… was annoyed.  People think things like that when they're annoyed."

"I know," she said softly.  "I thought it a few times myself, even if it made me feel bad."

"Don't really blame you," Adachi replied.  "I haven't exactly been the best teammate."

Again there was silence… and it was not until Saki let out a shuddering breath that he realized she was trying not to cry.  He sat up slightly, regretting it almost instantly, but he was more worried about the imminent break down happening in front of him.

"I haven't either…" she choked out, rubbing furiously at her face.  "I keep trying to think of what my reason is for keeping on with this.  I want to say it's for my brother, that he died because of me and I won't stand for that… but I… but… Hana-chan, and…!"

Adachi hesitated a moment, before holding his good arm out for her.  She glanced at it and him, before finally throwing herself forward, burying her head against his chest.  Saki let out a loud sob against him before she could stop herself, clinging to his hospital gown as she cried hard.  After a moment, she pounded against his chest, and Adachi let out a grunt, rolling his eyes skyward.

"Don't… don't do something like that again, okay?" she demanded to his chest.  "Don't make us worry about you and think you're dead!"

Adachi stared down at her, not sure what to say.  He never thought she would freak out about him like that, let alone what she was doing now.  Even he could not deny the fact that she had obviously been worried about him, and… well, after hearing that confession, he could not help but feel a little worried about _her._   She was carrying a lot on her shoulders for a teenager, and she was doing everything that he should have been doing by herself.  It was a wonder she had not broken yet.

After a moment, Adachi rested his good hand on her back, rubbing small circles as he let her cry her eyes out.

"Don't worry, I won't," he murmured, feeling a familiar, tingling warmth in his chest.


	27. Chapter Twenty-one – The Investigation Team

A familiar tint of blue filled his vision, and he knew he was back in that limo before he even opened his unconscious eyes.  Mr. Longnose was there in front of him, with Michael sitting off to the side like he had been the first time he arrived in this place.  Igor had that mysterious smile on his face, like he knew everything that was going on, but was still impressed by it at the same time.

"Welcome," he greeted him.  "Do not be alarmed, you are asleep in the material world.  If we need to speak, we will attempt to take you from the realm of your dreams, rather than interrupt your daily life.  You have an important role after all, even outside of the influences of the other world."

Michael was giving him a mild look, before attending to his own duties by opening up the book on his lap.  The pages flipped open, and Saki's Empress card hovered up from the pages.

"I'm impressed; you've actually managed to acquire a new bond already," he commented, glancing over to him as the card spun slowly before him.  "The Empress is the motherly card, the one who looks over all and guides them with a gentle, but firm, hand.  But even a mother can be overwhelmed if her responsibilities outweigh that which a normal human can handle."

He had the distinct impression he was being chastised there, but he did not have the chance to comment on it.  Igor waved his hand again, and a spread of face down Arcana cards flew out in a circle pattern on the table before him.  With a snap of his fingers, one of the cards flipped over, revealing the Tower in the reversed position.

"This card has hovered over your destiny since the beginning," Igor explained, a grim note in his voice.  Granted, he did not know much about fortune telling or cards or anything like that, but he knew enough to know that the Tower in any position was not a good card to have hovering over your head.  "As events stand," Igor continued, "where your destiny takes you is uncertain.  Even the cards will not reveal your future to me."

"It's important for you to take charge of the journey ahead," Michael added, and again he got the distinct feeling he was being chastised.  "You have already made one effort to reach out to those around you, and have been rewarded for it.  Perhaps the promise of power will be enough motivation for you."

This kid was a smug little brat.  Even Igor was side eyeing Michael as he closed his book.

"I will call on you for training again when you obtain Personae that cover the four basic elements," the attendant continued.  "Next time, please try to focus more and run around like a chicken less."

Igor shook his head, waving a dismissive hand before he could shout back at the unruly attendant.

"Well then, until we meet again…"

~.oOOo.~

_"ADACHI!"_

Adachi cringed as he walked into work several weeks after waking up in the hospital, his arm still slung in an air cast.  At this point, the pain from the injury was more or less under control, with him only popping a painkiller when it got too ridiculous.  Even still, he was not supposed to be back at work yet, but he was sure there was a pile of paperwork waiting for him to fill out.  He was left-handed, and it was his right arm that was broken; he could at least hold a pen and scribble away for a few hours.

Dojima bellowing his name dashed the hopes that it would be a peaceful day, but before his partner could get to him and add to the bruises he already had, everyone _else_ in the office turned toward him.  In that moment, Adachi felt very small at all the eyes focused on him…

…and then everyone burst out in applause.

Adachi stared in bewilderment, looking around at everyone shouting things like, "There's our hero!" and, "Not bad, kid!"  He had no idea what to do under that kind of attention, and instead he just stood there, frozen, his mouth open like a fish.  He was almost _thankful_ when Dojima slung his arm around his neck, dragging him away from the limelight and down one of the hallways that led to the interrogation rooms.  They passed by others muttering about a mysterious caricature leaving the station, but he was more concerned about stumbling after his partner to pay it much attention.  It was a bit before they finally found some place without people around, and Dojima finally let him go.  Adachi flopped against the wall once he was free, rubbing his hand over his face.

"What… what was that all about?" he managed to get out.  Dojima was giving him a hard look, but he raised an eyebrow at his question, as if Adachi should have already known why he was getting all the attention.

"For grabbing Namatame," he finally replied, his tone blunt.

"But he's not our serial murderer," Adachi protested.

"HQ doesn't see it that way," Dojima said, before eyeing his injured arm.  "He's a murderer, and he assaulted a cop."

Adachi let out an embarrassed noise; well, it was not a _lie_ that Namatame attacked him, seeing as he did have to fight his Shadow, but the majority of his injuries were from his _own_ Shadow, with maybe a bruise coming from the fight before.

"But I said in the report that my injuries came from falling…" he protested weakly.

Dojima gave him a critical eye, like he did not believe him for a second.  He had been giving Adachi the same look all throughout his report, and he did not need to be a genius to know that his partner did not believe a damn word he said.  Saying he lost his footing and fell off the large hill on the outskirts of town after capturing the suspect was the best lie he could come up with for his injuries.  There was no way his partner was going to buy him stage diving into a television in an effort to rescue the ghost of his dead niece.

For a heart stopping moment, Adachi thought for sure that his partner was going to call him out on lying, but finally the hard look disappeared from his face.  He wilted slightly as Dojima backed off, looking like he was trying to figure out what to do, before whirling on him again.

"What are you even doing here today anyway, hunh?" he demanded, making Adachi jump.  "You're useless like this.  Go home."

What was with everyone calling him useless?

"I-I can do paperwork just fine, sir!"

Dojima's hand came up, and Adachi cringed, waiting to finally get that punch that his partner had been threatening ever since he ended up in the hospital.  Instead, the older detective's hand flopped on his head, almost like he was giving a half-hearted pat to a dog.

"I already did it," he replied.  "Go home.  Rest.  Even if it was stupid, you earned it, you idiot."

An awkward moment passed, where Adachi could do nothing but stare at his partner like he grew another head.  Finally, he let out an awkward cough, letting his hand drop before finally muttering about having work to do and shuffling out of there as quickly as he could.  Adachi stared after him, mouth open, like he was trying to find some reason for that happening, but he just could not put it into words.

~.oOOo.~

It was sad that any other time he would be trying to run away from work and all the responsibilities that came with it.  Now that Adachi did not have to work, he had no idea what to do with himself.

After leaving the station, he returned home to change, if only so he would not risk getting any more stains on his already abused work suit.  After that, he lounged like he usually did on his days off, trying to watch TV, trying to browse the internet with little success.  He was _restless;_ eight weeks out of work and forced to lay around and either do nothing or not that much was driving him steadily insane.  Either that, or the training about "bonds" and Persona was being drilled into his head, and making him feel like he had to do _something,_ like Michael was standing by his ear and whispering, "Get off your lazy ass."

Finally, only an hour after he returned from work, Adachi threw his good arm up in defeat, swapping his old and abused shirt for a clean tank top and getting out of the apartment.  Even outside, he was not sure what he was supposed to do, but he just let his feet carry him wherever they wanted, eventually making his way to the bus stop, and then to Junes.  He paused outside the entrance, not really in the mood to be there after everything that had happened, but his feet rebelled against him after a moment, forcing him to make his way to the food court.

He probably should not have been surprised to see everyone else gathered at a table, minus Saki, whom he imagined was tending the food stand.  Rise spotted him first, and she bounced up from her seat, waving to him energetically.  Naoto, Kanji, and Yukiko turned, varying expressions of surprise on their faces as he made his way over to them.

"I thought you were still recovering, Adachi-san," Naoto said once he got close, and Adachi glanced down, flopping his still healing arm uselessly.

"I'm fine, more or less," he replied.  "They just don't want me to have it loose until it's at least been a full ten weeks."

He privately groaned at reciting what the doctors said.  Two more weeks with this stupid air cast on…

"'Ya sure it's okay just to be wanderin' around?" Kanji asked, eyeballing the cast, like it was going to pop off his arm any second.

"It's not like I'm going to drop over dead," Adachi answered, going over to flop into one of the chairs.  Yukiko stood up, saying she would get him a drink.  He tried to protest, but she was gone before he could get a word out.

"Everyone was catching me up on what's happened so far," Rise said, shooting a look and a severe finger at the other two left.  "And now they know not to leave me out of the loop on things like this!"

Kanji jerked back at the finger pointing as Naoto pulled her hat down over her eyes a bit, and Adachi could not help but smirk at that.  For such a tiny girl, Rise sure knew how to control people; he had a feeling they were going to get along great, as horrible as that was to think.

His expression sobered quickly, however; there was a big elephant at the table, now that everyone in their group knew what went down in the TV.  He paused, finding a faint crack in the table interesting for a moment, before letting out a breath.

"…not sure where to go from here," he admitted faintly.  Naoto glanced at him, before placing her hands on the table before her, like she had something she wanted to say – actually, considering his behavior, Adachi was surprised she had not let him have it six ways to Sunday by now.  Kanji glanced down at her, like he was waiting for that to happen exactly, before he finally broke the silence.

"Senpai said you just got your powers, right?  You didn't face yourself like the rest of us," he began.  "So I guess don't sweat that part; all things considered, it'd've had to come out eventually.  Maybe now that all your crap is aired out too, you'll start being less of a jackass."

"Still, the things your Shadow said…" Naoto finally spoke up, giving Adachi a critical look.  He was seriously expecting the lecture about how such thoughts were unbecoming someone his age, not to mention someone that was in such a serious profession.  She held his gaze for a long moment, before she finally let out a breath.  "Well… I do want to understand why you would think like that, but I feel this is a conversation best left for when everyone is gathered."

So he had a few minutes before he had to spill his guts, hunh?  There was probably no way he was going to get out of it either, and Adachi just let out a sigh, before glancing around.

"Speaking of, where did Yukiko-chan go to get that soda?" he asked.

As if on cue, Yukiko came running down the path, looking a bit winded, like she had ran through the entire store to get back to them.  She skidded to a stop just before their table, a hand going to her chest.

"Everyone, come quick," she gasped out.  "You're not going to believe this."

Concerned glances were passed between them, before they got up, running after Yukiko as she headed back into the store.  They followed her all the way to the electronics department, over to where there were some massaging chairs in a corner.  Saki was already there, her hands on her hips and looking completely exasperated, even from behind.  She turned when she heard them approach, her expression softening slightly, but still looking like she could not believe her life.

"I was pulled from the food stand because they said a 'Terry' was waiting for me in Electronics," she explained, a hand going to her forehead.  "I got here, and here _he_ is."

She stepped out of their line of view, only to have everyone but Yukiko take a collective step back.  It was none other than Teddie sitting in one of the massaging chairs, vibrating back and forth with an absolutely delighted look on his plush face.  He was all stuffed up again, and his wide form practically took up the entire chair.

"M-man y-you g-guys h-have g-grrreat s-stuff h-here!" he exclaimed, his voice vibrating along with the chair.

"Teddie!"  Adachi exclaimed.  "What… _how?"_

Teddie's eyes popped open at the sound of his voice, and he leapt out of the chair excitedly.

"Sensei!" he wailed happily, and Adachi fumbled back as the bear went rushing toward him for a bear hug.  Unfortunately, he was so enthusiastic, that hug turned into a tackle, and before Adachi knew it, he was staring up at the ceiling, a bit dazed.  This damn bear…!

The others crowded around the two of them, with Naoto looking far more amused at the sight than she should have.

"I suppose this shouldn't be too surprising," she said.  "Considering we can go back and forth between worlds, Teddie should be able to do so as well, especially now that he has his own Persona."

Teddie rolled off Adachi, leaving him to push himself up one handed.  The bear gave an enthusiastic nod, his tail wiggling back and forth.

"Yep," he confirmed, "it just never occurred to me to try before.  But you've all been gone so beary long, and sensei was so hurt, I was near pulling out my stuffing worrying about everyone."

Adachi glanced around, noting that they were getting more than a few stares.  Considering they had a "hero" detective on the ground and a massive plush bear wiggling around, they had to have made one hell of a scene, which meant it was not a good place to have Teddie babbling about his stuffing.

"Hey, let's get back to the food court and talk about this," he said, trying to get back to his feet, only finding that was… rather difficult one handed, and without anything to give him some leverage.  He let out an annoyed noise, trying not to turn red.  "…someone give me a hand?"

Kanji bent down, grabbing him by the scruff of his neck and hauling him up like a momma cat with her kitten.  Adachi yelped, legs flailing before he was finally put down on the ground, and the detective tried _desperately_ not to give the bruiser teen a withering glare for that.

It was not long before they were back at the food court, and their group was getting so large that they had to cram themselves in at one of the bigger tables.  Saki pulled her apron off as she flopped down next to Adachi, mindful to give him enough space so as not to accidentally bump into his arm.  The others filed in around him, with Teddie standing at the end of the table nearest to him, almost looking like he was going to reach out and cling to his arm any moment.  Adachi really did not know what to do with all the attention he was getting between this and what happened at the station, and he almost wanted to duck under the table and hide from it all.

"We should address the immediate issue at hand," Naoto began once everyone was settled, turning her gaze toward him.  Adachi swore he could feel himself freeze a little under her gaze despite the summer heat.  "You intend to take responsibility over this investigation now?"

He hesitated a moment, remembering his dream of the Velvet Room the night before.  Igor had said this was his destiny, and Michael called it his own journey; he did not know how much he believed about destiny crap, but this was definitely one hell of a trip he was in the middle of.  He finally let out a breath, his hand settling over the cast.

"…yeah," he murmured.  "I should've a long time ago."

That small confession seemed to change the air around the group, and while Naoto was still giving him a hard look, she did seem to ease back in her seat a bit.  It was Yukiko that spoke next however, a concerned look on her face.

"We do deserve an explanation," she said softly.  "After how you've behaved until now, and with what your Shadow said to us… we need to understand why you would feel that way."

"I think I have an idea," Naoto picked up, her tone a little kinder, "but yes, we should hear it from you, Adachi-san."

Adachi glanced between all of them, all the expectant faces turned in his direction.  He did not really want to do this; he wanted to brush it off like he usually did, but he had a feeling there was no way he was going to be able to get away with that this time.  There was a lot he just did not want to talk about, and he should have known they would all bring it up now that they had him there.  He glanced over again at Saki, who was giving him a curious look, before finally letting out a breath.

"I… guess you could say I didn't have the best childhood?" Adachi began.  "Well, no, that's not really true; my parents looked after me and all, but… well, my dad was pretty absent – there, but not there, you know?  My mom paid attention to me more, but she was more interested in making sure I studied all the time."

He let out another breath, resting his elbow on the table; damn, this was going to sound so pathetic.

"Studying was supposed to be the magic ticket, you know?" he continued.  "Study hard, get good grades, get into a good school, a good college, a good job, find a good wife, have a good family; that was drilled into my head for as long as I can remember.  Beyond studying, my mom didn't care what the hell I did, so long as my studies were done.  I learned really quick to be perfect in school; I was top in my class in everything, right through college.

"I knew what I wanted to do with my life right from the start.  Being a cop was dangerous, but it wasn't my intention to _just_ be a cop.  I knew I wanted more than that from the very start.  And… well, getting the gun was a nice bonus, even if it wasn't my only motivation.  Whenever I wasn't studying, I was watching TV; sentai, you know?"

His eyes flicked over to Naoto, and she had the grace to look slightly embarrassed.

"The heroes?  Always had guns, even the guy with the sword had a gun for a backup weapon," he continued.  "So it was cool for awhile, living the childhood dream of being the hero.  I didn't last long as a beat cop; being able to notice the little details and figuring out who was responsible for what got me noticed really quickly.  I ended up making detective… guess it was two, three years ago now.  Pissed off a lot of the old timers that had been on the street a lot longer than me.  Still, I kept getting commendation after commendation; my superiors told me constantly that I was going places.  I was even in the middle of a special program that could get me even more than that, when…"

Adachi sunk back in his seat, staring at a crack in the table.  He was getting to his "little" mistake, something he did not want to talk about at all.  Naoto seemed to know what was coming, and for a moment it looked like she was going to say something, but she hesitated.  She already knew the story, or part of it at least; this was probably the first time he was ever going to actually tell truth to anyone, even to himself.

"Before I ended up here… I caught a big case in the city; a murder/rape case," he explained, steeling himself for a depressing ending.  "The guy was a creep and a loser, but what was even worse?  He had everything; a good job, a good wife, a good family, everything that I had been promised growing up, and he was throwing it all away for a few cheap thrills and a bloody mess in his wake.  We got an undercover in, someone his type, and burst in on the guy just as he started assaulting her.  He jumped out the window, and my partner and I pursued him."

He paused for breath, licking his lips.  "It was when we had him cornered that he really started acting erratic.  My partner took point, trying to calm him down, but the guy got a hold of his gun and shot him."

Silence hung over the table, but Adachi could not look up to see them all hanging on his every word.  It was like he was back on that night, the night that he dismissed as just a justified shooting, that it was not a big deal to him… but really he could remember shaking, clutching his gun so hard that his knuckles were white, the smell of the discharge, and…

"I don't… remember when I started firing, exactly.  Just… when I came out of it, I was still trying to pull the trigger on a corpse."

He vaguely saw Naoto shift out of the corner of his eye, but he did not comment on it.  Instead, he finally let out a breath, waving his hand.

"After that, the top guys were trying to use that as an excuse to get me kicked off the force, or worse," he finished.  "My partner wouldn't let them do it though; kept shouting about how I saved his life all the way from his hospital bed.  There wasn't much they could do except say I failed the course, and bump me over to the countryside so they could forget about me."

There was silence again as everyone tried to process what he had said, with Teddie murmuring a faint, "Sensei…" and trying to wiggle a little closer to him.  The bear looked like he was sweltering from the summer heat, so Adachi reached over a gave his head a pat, if only so he would not have a sweaty bear rubbing up against his side.  It was a while before anyone spoke, and it was Rise that broke the silence, resting her arms on the table.

"It's not hard to see why anyone would get jaded after that…"

"Still doesn't justify you bein' a jerkass, but I kinda understand now," Kanji admitted, glancing around at the others.  They all seemed to be in agreement with that statement, Naoto and Saki giving a faint nod and Yukiko looking like she was lost in thought.  Adachi let out a breath; at least they seemed… okay?

"I'm still a jerk, but I'll… try, I guess," he replied.  "I guess I'll start with being more honest with my feelings and go from there."

Saki glanced over at him, a small smile on her face.  "So, you'll really start leading the group now then?"

Adachi gave a nod at that.  "Yeah.  I'll… really start leading us now."

He could feel his chest tighten at that, the thought of that much responsibility on his shoulders making him gag inside.  This was not like him; there was no way he ever wanted that much responsibility on himself, but he did not have a choice anymore.  Hell, he did not have a choice to begin with.

Before anyone could say anything else, Teddie let out a whine, reaching up to wipe the sweat from his forehead.

"Man, it's so beary hot here," he complained… before reaching up to grab at the zipper around his head.  "Time for this to come off!"

Both Adachi and Saki had twin looks of panic on their faces, and Adachi slammed his hand down on the bear's head as Saki shot up from her seat.

"Teddie, we've seen you flat before!" she exclaimed.  "There are kids around!  They don't need to see a headless mascot costume walking around!"

"Seriously, Ted!  Think before you do something that crazy!"

Teddie let out a bear growl of annoyance, shoving Adachi off of him.

"I'm not being crazy!  Sheesh!"

Before any of them could try and stop him again, Teddie pulled at the zipper around his head… and with a _pop,_ the eyes on the bear blanked out as the head was tossed off.  Instead of the nothingness they expected to see inside after seeing Teddie completely _flattened,_ however, a young boy with blonde hair and bright blue eyes stood up from the top of the costume.  Adachi's jaw just may well have hit the table in his shock, with the others in similar states of surprise and Naoto just looking extremely _disturbed._ The boy let out a relieved noise, one paw reaching up to push his hair back.

"Ahh… that's so beary much better!" he exclaimed in Teddie's voice, and Adachi raised a shaking finger, pointing.

"Y… you… you…?!" was all he could manage to get out.  Sense kicked in at that moment, and he glanced down to see the boy's bare chest poking out from the top of the costume.  Teddie followed his gaze, before letting out a sheepish noise.

"Does anyone happen to have any clothes?" he asked.  "I'm as bear as a newborn."

Adachi wished he had something to readily available record with, because the _noise_ that Naoto let out was priceless.  Her and Saki bolted from their seats, grabbing Teddie's costume by the zipper and hauling it up as high as it would go, before dashing off down the path, shouting for him to not drop his bottom _no matter what._ Rise had a huge grin on her face, her eyes bright as she shot up from her seat to join them.

"Wait for me!" she called, pausing to turn a commanding gaze to Kanji.  "Kanji!  Let's go!"

"Hey!  Don't order me around!" he shouted after her… but he still got up from his chair, dashing after them.

Adachi stared after them, before shaking his head in exasperation; these kids…  He moved to get up and follow after them, when he noticed Yukiko was still sitting at the table, that lost look still haunting her expression.  He peered down at her, catching her attention.  For a moment, it did not seem like she would say anything, before she finally let out a soft breath.

"Adachi-san…" she began.  "How did… your parents react to you wanting to be a police officer?"

"My parents…?" he asked, sitting down again so that he was directly across from her.  "My dad didn't say much – I don't think he even knows what college I went to.  My mom was disappointed with my choice though; she said I wasn't supposed to settle for something so low."

"So low?" Yukiko echoed.

"Yeah… she thought a police officer was below me," he explained.  "I dunno, I guess she thought I would be a great teacher or politician or something."  He let out a laugh, rubbing the back of his neck.  "Can you imagine?  Me?  As either of those?"

He let his arm drop after a moment, leaning against the table.  "I… don't think either of them ever really knew me.  Sometimes I think I was just a check mark on their life plan: have a kid!  Done!  Maybe they don't even really know each other, and…"

Adachi trailed off, realizing that Yukiko was not really listening to him.  "Ah… I'm rambling."

She let out a faint noise, looking back at him as she realized she was being rude.  An apology came from her, but she looked down at her hands, worrying her fingers and looking like she was trying to find the right words to continue.

"Do you remember what my Shadow said?" Yukiko finally asked.  "About how I wanted to run away from this place, and I felt that the Inn and everything involved with it was chaining me down?"  She paused for him to give a nod, before continuing, "I thought that I really wanted to escape from all this, that after Chie's death, I really did not have anything left to keep me in Inaba.  That's why I've tried so hard in the TV, I think… to get revenge on the person that took away my reason for existing here."

Adachi's eyebrows shot toward his hairline, not expecting something as serious as revenge to be associated with someone as traditional as Yukiko.  She glanced up at his expression, a faint embarrassed tint coming to her face.

"B-but…" she began, "I think I finally understand that's not true.  I've made other friends since everything started; this investigation, even though it's been difficult, has brought us all together in one way or another.  And our relationships with each other are still changing, I think for the better, especially now.  So… I'm not so alone here anymore.  I have you, and the others… I still want to find Chie's murderer, but not so much for revenge… because it's the right thing to do, and we're the only ones that can.  And maybe with all of you, I can finally decide if I want to stay with the Inn, or if I want to find a different way in life, even if my parents don't expect it of me."

Adachi was quiet for a moment after, mouth opened slightly as he tried to process everything.  Finally, a faint, half smile worked its way onto his face.

"Man, you all've grown up a lot since this started, hunh?" he asked.  "Sounds like I missed a lot."

She pinked slightly at the offhand compliment, smiling a bit herself as she folded her hands on her lap.

"Not just us," Yukiko replied, before she glanced up to where the others had disappeared.  "We should catch up with them.  Teddie may be too much for them to handle."

"Ah, right," Adachi replied, getting up first and offering his hand to help her up.  It was hard not to; she carried herself with that kind of traditional grace that he could not help but be a little old fashioned himself.  "'Sides, with those looks, they might accidentally dress Ted up in dresses and bows."

Yukiko paused, and Adachi could see the mental image worming its way into her head from the look on her face.  Her mouth twitched, like she was struggling with something… before she suddenly _burst out laughing,_ an arm going around her stomach.  He just stood there and stared as she went into near hysterics, laughing so hard and so long that he was actually starting to get concerned.

"A-ah… Yukiko-chan…?" he mumbled, but she was so lost in her own laughter that it did not seem like she heard him.  Instead, she leaned against him, and he noticed that she was nearly in tears as that familiar warm feeling spread through his chest.


	28. Chapter Twenty-two – Welcome Home

"You're progressing faster than I anticipated."

He was back in the broken down elevator, standing face to face with Michael this time.  Adachi frowned as he took in that annoying neutral expression that seemed like it was constantly judging him; not that he could blame him, but it was still getting irritating to deal with.  He was not going to give the detective a chance to comment on it, however; that book was out, and the pages flipped themselves open until they were on the High Priestess – Yukiko's card.  The Arcana hovered out of the book as usual, floating in front of Michael's face.

"The High Priestess is the card of wisdom," he explained.  "Like the Empress, she watches over all, but more as a guide than a mother, intimately aware of the finer workings of the Universe, and calls for a sense of balance in one's life."

A bit of a smirk touched Michael's face, before the card shattered, calling out a lovely woman carrying some kind of stringed instrument.  She strummed the guitar-like instrument, and Adachi let out a loud yelp as ice suddenly sprang up around him, encasing him in a ring of _freezing cold._

"What the hell?!" he snapped.  "Warning, please!"

Michael let out a curious noise, tilting his head.  "I did warn you.  I told you the next time I called you here, I would be training you in elements."

"That's _not_ what I meant!"

Damn cheeky brat…!  Adachi reached out for the Death Arcana, calling out the White Rider to melt the ice that surrounded him.  It just made Michael look all the more amused, and of course it did not take long before Adachi found out why.  He directed the flames at the female Persona, but she did not seem all that bothered by it.  He let out a confused noise, staring; wait, she used ice spells, so fire should have been something she was weak against, right?  Michael let out a snort at his confusion as the woman stroked the strings of her instrument.

"Elemental affinities are not so clear cut," he explained.  "Just because a Shadow or a Persona uses ice abilities, that does not mean the opposite element is their weakness."

Another pluck of the guitar-like instrument, and White Rider was incased in a block of ice.  Adachi felt like the air had been sucked out of his lungs as a result, and he struggled to keep on his feet as his knees wobbled.

"You do not have a proper support member," Michael continued.  "While Rise is capable of it, she is too determined to fight alongside you all to be effective in backing you up.  You will need to rely on your own instincts until you find a Persona user capable of scanning your enemies and fishing out their weaknesses."

Adachi let out an annoyed noise, his hand snapping out to get White Rider out of that ice block.  Instinct hunh… he had good instincts as a detective, but he did not know how that was supposed to help him here.  There was no hint on the Persona's form that clued him in on what she might have been weak against…

It clicked in his head a moment later, and the White Rider disappeared from the ice block, the card coming to hover over it as it changed over to the Empress.

_"Titania!"_

The graceful fairy queen appeared before him, an amused laugh tinkling from her before letting loose with her wind spell.  Michael grunted at the hit, flinching as his Persona disappeared.  It did not slow the attendant down, however; once he straightened himself out his book was open, calling on the Magician Arcana.  A massive giant engulfed in flames appeared, and fire started whirling around Adachi almost immediately.  He managed to jump out of the way, but his Persona did not, and despite the fact that he was clear he ended up on the ground anyway, gasping in pain as Titania was annihilated in the flames.

He did not even think as he called on his own High Priestess, marveling slightly as the same woman with the stringed instrument appeared.  Michael did not look like he had been counting on that, and Adachi wished he could take a picture of the priceless expression on his face as Sarasvati encased the giant in a block of ice.

Adachi stood there a moment as Michael processed what he just did, a confident smirk starting to work its way onto the detective's face.  Of course, the attendant decided to snap himself out just in time to see that, and the giant disappeared, the ice cracking apart and falling to the ground before vanishing as Michael held his book up.  Adachi braced himself as Yoshitsune appeared again, but he was not exactly counting on the Persona rushing him, intent on slicing him in half.

He let out a yelp as he dove out of the way, Sarasvati backing him up by casting her ice again.  The warrior barely seemed phased by it as he pursued Adachi, and he tried desperately to think.  He was pretty sure Yoshitsune did not _have_ a weakness; in fact, he distinctly remembered having Izanagi take a swipe at him the last time, only to have it immediately blocked.

"You little _cheater!"_ he shouted at Michael, shooting out of the way as Sarasvati continued to pepper the Persona with ice spells.

"I don't know what you're talking about," Michael replied, his tone light and almost airy as the Japanese general continued to pursue Adachi.  The detective swore under his breath; just how the hell was this productive toward figuring out weaknesses if the Persona did not _have_ a weakness!?

Yoshitsune drifted back from his pursuit, and it took Adachi a moment to realize that it was getting ready to cast at him.  Lightning crackled around the general, and he swore under his breath; he did not have anything that could avoid the attack entirely, but…

_"Izanagi!"_

His main Persona quickly took the place of Sarasvati just in time as lightning crackled around them.  It still hurt, but Adachi could not help but notice it was not nearly as much as it could have been.  He did not get much time to dwell on it, as Michael was changing Personae again, this time back to his own Sarasvati.  Adachi switched back to Titania without a second thought just as ice came spearing down at him, and the fairy queen easily blocked the attack.

"Do you get it now?" Michael asked as Titania retaliated, sending Sarasvati spinning end over end.  "Being able to detect an enemy's weakness is all well and good, but being able to know yourself is important too.  Only then will you be able to defend yourself and others properly."

Michael finally closed his book, and Sarasvati disappeared along with it.  A moment passed as Adachi remained where he was, trying not to gasp for breath as he half expected the little shit to dish something else out at him.  His attendant stayed his hand however, tucking his book under his arm, and surprising him with something that just might have been a genuine smile finally coming to his face.

"And the more you grow, the more you understand yourself, the better you'll become."

~.oOOo.~

"Adachi-san, is that a bruise on your arm?"

Adachi muttered under his breath, grabbing the sleeve of his shirt and tugging it down a little further.  It was his last day of forced vacation; the cast had been removed from his arm, and everything so far had been all well and good through the last few weeks.  Of course, someone would have to notice that something was not entirely right after his training room trip in his head; 'bare minimal damage' to his body his ass.  He was going to punch Michael for the massive welt he left on his arm.

"Ah, it's nothing," he waved Naoto off, a bright, forced smile on his face.  "Just stumbled right into the corner of the fridge while half asleep this morning.  S'gonna take me awhile to get used to crawling out of bed early again."

Naoto did not look like she believed him, but any comment she had for him was interrupted as Saki came up to their usual table in the Junes food court, dragging Teddie along by the ear.  The bear was still out of his suit, looking like he had received the world's longest, loudest scolding.  Adachi flinched in sympathy as she finally let him go, dropping the poor bear on the seat next to him.  It seemed whatever words she had given Teddie were not done yet, because Saki was planting her hands on the table in the next moment, leaning over until she was practically in Adachi's face.

"You need to take him," she declared, and while she was not screaming, she may as well have been.  Adachi felt like he was going to explode under the force of that piercing stare she was giving him, and Teddie looked like he was about ready to dive under the table.

"W-what'd he do now?" Adachi squeaked, just as afraid as Teddie at the moment.

"What _didn't_ he do!" Saki finally yelled, making the detective jump back.  "He eats way too much, he keeps sneaking out of my room to check out the shop, and _he snores loud enough to wake the dead."_

"I-is that all?" Adachi asked, which… probably was not the smartest thing he could have done.  The look Saki gave him in return made him want to sink under the table with Teddie.

"He's your responsibility now," she said.  "Be a good sensei."

Adachi groaned, planting a hand against his forehead as Teddie looked up at him, the hope that he was not going to be getting yelled at again shining in his eyes.  He let out a sigh, absently patting him on the head as Saki went over to sit next to Yukiko, grabbing a soda that had been waiting for her and sucking on the straw angrily.

Kanji was letting out a heart rending sigh as Teddie popped back up from under the table.

"Man, summer's really almost over…" he bemoaned.  "We didn't even go anywhere."

Adachi raised a curious eyebrow at that.  "What kept you guys from going to the beach or something?"

He knew immediately that was the wrong question to ask, as all eyes turned on him.

"W-what?  You can't blame that on me!" he protested.  "You could have gone!"

"Yeah, but…" Kanji began, rubbing the tip of his nose.

"Going off and leaving you behind while you were injured just didn't seem right," Yukiko said softly, swirling her drink around almost shyly.  Adachi glanced around at everyone at the table, before sinking back, his face taking on a healthy shade of red.  He was never going to get used to this "bonds" thing, it was just so far removed from what he was used to.

"Summer's not over yet, guys!" Rise protested.  "We can still go to the beach!"

"Yeah, but how we gonna get there?" Kanji asked.  "The bus only takes you so far."

There was a pause… before again, all eyes turned toward Adachi, and that warm and fuzzy feeling he had before quickly turned to dread.  Oh _no…_

"C-c'mon, my car is on its last legs!" he yelped.  "I'm walking around everywhere as it is; driving down to the beach is just going to be the final nail in its coffin!"

"It can't be that bad," Saki pointed out.

"Oh it's bad," Adachi replied firmly, before forking a thumb toward Naoto.  "Besides, she's the one with the private limo; why are you jumping on me?!"

All eyes shifted from Adachi to Naoto, as the younger detective turned a healthy shade of red.  She reached up, pulling her hat over her eyes like she always did when she was embarrassed.

"W-well… I suppose I can arrange for it…" she murmured.  "I'll need to consult with my grandfather…"

Rise shot up from her seat, excited.  "Ohhh, I can't wait!" she squealed, before a devious look came to her face.  "I should invite Seito-kun to come along…"

Adachi stared, not aware that her relationship with Dojima's nephew had gone beyond, "the kid that warned her about the TV," until that moment.  She practically leapt away from the table then, flinging her arms to the air dramatically.

"All right!  Senpai!  Naoto-kun!  Let's go bathing suit shopping!"

Naoto let out one of her priceless half screeches, the color draining from her face as she stared at Rise with wide eyes.

"W-why?"

Rise lowered her arms, one hand going to her hip and the other hand shooting out, pointing to the Detective Prince like they were in the middle of a TV drama.

"Because, we're going to the beach!" she declared.  "You have to look like a knock out for Kanji, you know!"

Adachi had to hide his face then, because he was pretty sure the sight of him in the middle of a Yukiko-like laughing fit was just going to piss Kanji off.  As it was, Naoto looked like she was going to faint at the suggestion, and Kanji looked like an enraged ghost as he slammed his fists on the table.

"W-w-w-w-w-what does that have to do with going to the beach!?" he spat out.  "She looks fine the way she is!"

That did not help the little schemer that was Rise Kujikawa; she practically skipped around the table, hooking her arms around Naoto's and hauling her away – literally, as Naoto had frozen up so bad it did not look like she remembered how her legs worked.  Yukiko and Saki exchanged looks, before getting up and following after, helping the smaller teen drag Naoto along.

Adachi finally lifted his head once they were well out of sight, only to enjoy the sight of Kanji looking like he was about ready to have an aneurism.  He bit the inside of his cheek; oh no, he should not say what popped into his head at that moment, he really should not.  But damn it was too tempting…

"Well.  If you're lucky, she'll really look like your pussycat."

Teddie threw his hands over his mouth, snickering loudly as both of Kanji's hands came slamming down on the table, his face going from sheet white to beet red in less than a second.

 _"WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT!?"_ he demanded, making Adachi duck down against the table, throwing up his arms over his head as he started snickering.  _"WE ARE NEVER BRINGING THAT SHIT UP AGAIN, GOT IT!?"_

Adachi held up his hands in surrender as Teddie flopped over on the table next to him, pounding against it in hysterics.  Kanji was fuming, but any other rage he had for the two of them was cut short as his cell phone went off.  He was sure to shoot them another glare before answering.

"Yeah?" he asked, managing not to grumble into the phone.  He was quiet for a moment, before he shot up from the table.  "What?!  When did this happen!?"

Adachi and Teddie stopped short, staring up at Kanji as he seemed torn between being angry and being worried, his hand tightening into a fist at his side.  Finally he grumbled a, "I'll be right there," before flipping his phone shut, glancing at the two of them.  The rage from before was definitely gone now, and the concern he had over the call was obvious.

"My ma's in the hospital.  I gotta go."

Teddie yelped as Adachi half stood from his seat before he could stop himself.  "D'you need a ride?"

Kanji stared at him, looking like he wanted to bolt right that second and run the whole way to the hospital.  Adachi did not doubt he could do it, but about to fall apart or not, his car would have gotten them there a lot faster.  He hesitated a moment more, before he let out an irritated grumble.

"Yeah, thanks."

~.oOOo.~

Kanji ran ahead of Adachi and Teddie when they got to the hospital, forcing the two of them to run for it as well to keep up with him.  Even still, they lagged behind, and when they finally made it to the lobby, he had already gotten the room his mother was in and was about ready to haul off for one of the elevators.  Adachi swore under his breath, grabbing Teddie by the collar of his shirt and pounding after him.

"Hey, slow down!" he called after him, just managing to squeeze into an elevator after Kanji before the doors closed.  Teddie flailed, pawing at his collar with his hands before Adachi finally let him go.  "Calm down, will 'ya?  I'm sure she'll still be there by the time we get there."

Kanji had a grim expression on his face, disturbingly quiet as the elevator took them up to the floor his mother was on.  He bolted from the little box once the doors opened, and Adachi and Teddie struggled to catch up with him again as he bolted down the hallway, only to near collide with an elderly woman in a kimono as she came from the other direction.  Kanji fumbled backwards until he thumped against the other two, staring at the woman.

"M-ma?!"

Adachi peered around Kanji, taking in the woman before them.  She was very petite, and held herself in a traditional manner.  Her grey hair was pulled back into a bun near the base of her head, and her wrinkled face seemed to be stuck in a permanent motherly expression.  He glanced between her and Kanji, trying to figure out how this tiny woman could be _his_ mother, making his brain hurt in the process.

"Goodness, you look pale," she commented, not seeming all that bothered by her son's expression.  "Are you getting sick, Kanji-kun?"

"N-never mind me!" Kanji snapped out.  "What about you?!  You're… you're okay?"

His mother let out an amused noise, obviously _very_ used to her son's outbursts.  "Of course I'm okay, dear.  I wasn't taken to the hospital, I took someone."

She glanced to the side, and in all the chaos they had all managed to miss the little boy clinging to her side.  He was staring up at Kanji, terrified by the older boy's outbursts.  Kanji's mother smiled gently, reaching over to pat the boy's shoulder reassuringly.

"The poor thing got hit by a bicycle right in front of our shop," she explained.  "He hit his head, so I had a doctor examine him.  He said there's no damage, thank goodness."

Kanji's hands balled up into fists at his side, and he started shaking as she explained what happened.  He finally snapped once she finished, pounding a fist against the wall and making everyone but her jump in surprise.

"Dammit!  Do you have any idea how I felt!?" he snapped.  "You… you stupid cow!"

Kanji stomped off, and Teddie called after him, running to catch up with him.  Adachi stared after them, confused as to what the hell just happened and not sure what to do in response.  Finally, he moved to follow after Kanji, when he felt a hand on his shoulder.  He glanced over in surprise to see that Kanji's mother had stepped closer to him, the boy still cowering by her side.

"You are Adachi Tohru-san, yes?" she asked, her face crinkling as she smiled broadly.  "Kanji has said so much about you."

Oh boy; Adachi laughed sheepishly as he turned around, rubbing at his neck.  "Not all of it good, I guess."

"No," she admitted bluntly, "but he's been kinder when speaking about you the last few weeks.  It's good to know someone has made such an impression on him; he's really such a sweet boy."

Adachi had to pause a moment to make sure he heard that right.  "'Sweet'?  He just called you a _cow."_

His protest just got an amused chuckle out of her.  "I know how he felt; he hates hospitals," she explained.  "His father… my husband died here, and Kanji happened to be elsewhere when he collapsed, and couldn't get here in time.  He was scared for me."

Adachi found himself staring again; he had no idea Kanji's father was dead.  Now that he thought about it, outside of being a thug, he really did not know that much about the kid at all.  It seemed he was going to find out more, because Kanji's mother let out a faint sigh.

"But it is good to see one of our detectives getting along with him," she continued.  "The other officers harass him often."

"Well, given that report a while back…" Adachi began, only to regret saying that almost immediately.  She fixed him with a sharp glare that had him taking a step back, ready to dodge a punch if he needed to; now he knew where Kanji got it from, at least.

"That ridiculous news report…" she began, shaking her head as she calmed down.  "Kanji has nothing to do with those gangs.  He only scolded them because their driving around at night was waking me up."

"He… hunh…"

So he beat up a gang of bikers to defend his mother; the funny part was that sounded so much like something Kanji would do that he should have figured that out sooner.  He rubbed at his neck again, muttering an apology while mentally kicking himself.  She smiled at him, shaking her head slightly.

"Detective… please continue to look after him," she said softly.  "He can take care of himself, but a guiding hand certainly won't hurt him.  As his mother, I can only do so much; he needs others in his life to show him who he is as well."

Adachi let out a faint noise; so it was back to bonding with others again, hunh?  That really was coming up a lot now that he had his eyes open for it.  Was reaching out to other people always that easy, or was it just the Velvet Room's influence?  He was not quite sure, and it was still a pain, but… maybe it was not all that bad?

"I will," he said, a smile creeping up onto his face.  "'Sides, I'd feel guilty if something happened to him and I made his mother cry."

She laughed at that.  "Oh, you wouldn't make me cry," she replied… and maybe it was because of Kanji, but Adachi got the sinking suspicion that she would be too busy pummeling him to cry.  A shudder went up his spine, and he almost missed the warm feeling in his chest as she patted him on the arm before turning her attention back to the little boy.

~.oOOo.~

Adachi found himself walking home with Teddie and Rise on either side of him that evening, carrying a large box of old bedding that the young idol had pulled out of her attic for Teddie to use.  Most of it was pink with hearts and stars, but the bear did not seem to care at all; he was more thrilled by receiving a gift from someone to worry himself over how girly it looked.  Adachi just grunted in exasperation at the whole thing, still trying to figure out how the heck this was even supposed to work; he only had a one bedroom apartment, and it was literally just big enough for him to move around in.  He did not know how he was supposed to fit someone as bouncy as Teddie in there too.

Rise went right into his pocket once they got to his place, grabbing Adachi's keys and unlocking the door herself.  She went prancing into the small apartment, Teddie bouncing in just behind her, and the detective just let out a sigh as he entered last, kicking the door closed behind him.  Rise stood in the doorway between the kitchen and the bedroom, looking back and forth, eyes wide in complete awe.

"Adachi-san… is this really your place?" she asked.  "It's so… _clean?"_

Adachi grunted at that, feeling his face growing hot.  "What, you expected a mess?"

"Well… yeah."

Another sigh escaped from him, but Rise's attention was more on his room than him.  She pressed a finger to her lips, scanning the small space.

"Hmm… maybe we should have gotten bunk beds…" she muttered, more to herself.  He rolled his eyes skyward as Teddie peered around behind her, before shooting over to the closet.

"Saki-chan had me sleep in her closet!" he exclaimed.  "It was nice and cozy in there."

Adachi nearly dropped the box as Teddie reached to slide the door open.  "No, wai—!"

Too late; Teddie slid the door to the closet open, only to let out a yelp as a box came tumbling down from a large stack inside.  It hit the poor bear right in the head, knocking him over and into the small table situated in front of the television.  He let out a pained noise as Rise ran over to him, curling up and holding his little blonde head.

"G-grizzly…" he whimpered as Adachi set the box he was holding down, hurrying over to shove the closet door closed before more boxes came tumbling down on top of them.

"Sheesh, I tried to warn you," he grumbled.  "My closet's full; it's not for someone to live in."

"It looks more like you never _unpacked,"_ Rise protested, making sure Teddie was going to be okay, before going to clean up the box that fell.  It had burst open when it hit the bear, spilling some of the contents all over the floor.  Adachi let out a faint noise, though it was not out of protest – she had pretty much hit the nail on the head.  He had not bothered to unpack; he was still waiting for that shining letter, saying that he could come back and work in the city.  Now that his eyes were open, it felt like a stupid, distant dream.

Who the hell would _want_ him back?

"Adachi-san…?" Rise asked softly, her tone sounding strange.  He glanced down at her… and nearly blanched when he saw she was holding a familiar little book.  His hands snapped out quick as lightning, snatching it away, almost catching her fingers as he snapped it shut.  She squeaked at the near miss, but she did not seem all that bothered by it as she stared up at him with wide eyes.

"Adachi-san… you _graduated_ from Todai?"

Adachi knew his face had to be a brilliant shade of red as his lips twisted up in a sour expression.  He turned away from her, opening up the diploma just enough to see the brilliant Tokyo University emblem shimmering back up at him.  Teddie had recovered by the time he snapped it closed again, and he let out an irritable noise.

"…yeah, high honors," he mumbled, shoving the booklet back in the box.  "I don't want to talk about it."

He hoped that would be enough to deter her, but that was wishful thinking.  In the next moment her arm was shooting between his legs to get to the box, and he let out a yelp, teetering away from her as she snatched the diploma back out.  She had it opened up again even as he tried to protest, and her eyes looked like they were shimmering as much as the emblem on the paper.

 _"High honors,"_ she repeated, turning it to face him, and he took a step back, like it repelled him.  "Why wouldn't you want to talk about that?  How many people even _do_ that?"

"Not many," Adachi grunted out, trying to snatch it back from her, only to have her jerk it out of his reach.  That only served to frustrate him, and he ended up snapping, "Look what it _got me_ too."

He regretted saying that almost immediately, and he wanted to punch himself as Rise recoiled at his sharp tone.  Adachi planted a hand over his face, muttering an apology as he flopped back on his bed.  Teddie crawled up from the floor at that, sitting by his side as Rise stepped over to curl up by his other side.  He looked back and forth between the two of them, before letting out a sigh; this was going to be Adachi Exposition Hour now?

"Hey, I told you guys that all I did was study when I was younger," he explained.  "I breezed the Todai test.  Getting through classes there was a challenge, but I did it easy.  All I heard was how much promise I had, that I could do anything and go far no matter what I did."

Instead, here he was, stuck in the middle of the boonies; he made a sour face, remembering all the missed opportunities, the times he could have had fun, had friends by his side, and he passed it all on, because he was supposed to go _farther_ than all of them.  What was the point of bothering with anyone when he was supposed to be so much better?

Rise reached over, placing a hand on his arm, and Adachi nearly jumped, glancing down at her.  Teddie snuggled up against his other side, and it took him a moment to realize the outpouring of affection was because his face was getting wet.  He muttered under his breath, rubbing angrily at his face before he let out a deep breath.

"Hey, enough of this," he mumbled, letting his hands drop back in his lap.  "We're supposed to figure out where the hell Ted's going to sleep here."

Rise shot up at that, her hands on her hips.  "Well, yeah, but before we make _him_ at home, we gotta make _you_ at home," she declared, before pointing her finger in his face.  "Start pulling out those boxes, Adachi-san!  We're unpacking!"

Adachi tried to protest, but Rise was already heading toward the closet to do it herself.  He shot up as soon as he saw the boxes inside wobbling, muttering that he'd do it.  She backed off, going over by Teddie and whispering in his ear as he started pulling out boxes.  Teddie beamed, before shooting out of the apartment, and Adachi was about to ask what the heck was going on, only to be barked at for stopping with the boxes.

 _Damn,_ Rise could be scary.

She dived into a box as soon as he had a few brought out, starting to pull things out.  Clothes that he had never bothered to unpack were tossed onto the bed to have the mustiness washed out of them later, while other things were organized by necessity.  The other kitchen utensils he had were set on the kitchen counter space to be organized later, bathroom supplies he had forgotten about were set aside by the door, and his good sheets were tossed on the bed with the clothes.  Adachi gagged as he grabbed his fabrics, running downstairs to shove them in the laundry room before the smell overwhelmed the apartment as Rise tackled a box full of picture frames, and by the time he came back up, she even had his original classic framed Featherman poster up on the walls.  He planted a hand over his face in embarrassment, but she refused to let him be ashamed of it.

He collapsed on the bed once the last box was unpacked and flattened, and his clothes were either hung up or slipped into an organizer under the bed.  The apartment looked entirely different with his pictures and his model gun collection and everything else set out for display; it almost looked like…

Adachi could not even finish the thought; Rise was tapping her foot impatiently, arms crossed over her chest.

"Geeze… what's taking him so long?" she muttered as he forced himself back upright.

"Where did you send him anyway?"

She turned to him then, giving him a wink.  "It's a secret~!"

The door finally banged open then, and Teddie bear rolled into the apartment, holding up a picture frame triumphantly.

"Rise-chan, Rise-chan!  I did it!" he exclaimed, happily handing over the picture frame like a dog fetching the morning paper.  She beamed at that, the smile on her face bright as Adachi tried to peer around her arm, trying to see what she was holding.  Rise did not give him the chance, as she was heading for the TV, sneaking behind it to where she had left a hook up.

When she finally pulled away, he saw the Tokyo University emblem shining through the frame, and it took him a moment to place that she had sent Teddie to have his diploma framed.  He stared in mute surprise, and it was at least a minute that passed before he pulled his eyes away from the frame to look at the two of them.  Rise looked insanely proud of herself, and Teddie would have been wiggling his tail if he was in his bear suit.

"Sensei!  Welcome home!"

_Home._

It sounded so weird to have "home" applied to this place, but… at the same time, after everything that had happened, he found himself thinking of the city less and less.  Inaba was on his mind more; stopping by the shopping district for Aiya's food or steak skewers, where to get the best coffee, the times he needed to stop by Junes for their sales, Dojima inviting him over for dinner, Saki and Yukiko and all the others and…

Adachi could feel that warm feeling in his chest again, but this time he was not sure if it was because he had formed another bond, or because it felt like he actually belonged somewhere.

"…yeah, thanks."


	29. Chapter Twenty-three – Can Never Unsee

By now, he was starting to get used to falling asleep and seeing nothing but blue.

It was the limo again this time, though Igor was nowhere to be seen; Michael sat in his usual spot despite the emptiness behind the table the Nose used for his tarot cards.  The attendant did not seem to realize he was there at first, and he almost spoke up, when he heard a faint buzzing noise coming from him, and saw that his headphones were up over his ears.

Hunh… even these guys could get tired.

His gaze fell from Michael, to the table before him.  There was a note left there in neat, practiced handwriting, like the person that had written the note took great care in how he wrote.  Of course, that was offset by the crappy drawings of an old woman and what he guessed was supposed to be Rise, given the red pigtails that stuck out of the stick figure's head.  The roman numerals for the Chariot and the Lovers were next to them, though instead of writing them, the person tried to draw them all fancy and failed miserably.

> _Congratulations on obtaining The Chariot and The Lovers._
> 
> _Continue reaching out to the people around you._
> 
> _You'll be surprised at what you find._

He nodded absently to himself; reaching out to others… he did not want to get that familiar with other people, but so far it had been helping him more than he anticipated.  Maybe he really did just need to let go of his stupid way of thinking already.

But more importantly…

"These drawings are crap…" he muttered under his breath… only to end up with his face slammed into the table as Michael's Compendium came crashing down on the back of his head.

~.oOOo.~

Adachi stared at the scheduling calendar hanging up in the main office for everyone to see.  He was finally back on it, despite Dojima threatening to take him off permanently after his many attempts to sneak back into work before the time permitted by his doctor.  His eyes were on the weekend before school would start back up for the kids, however, noticing that he had both days to himself – a small miracle if there ever was one.  Maybe they saw it as "going easy on him" since he had suffered such a "grievous" injury.  Either way, it meant that he had no excuse to miss the beach trip the others were planning, and he cast his eyes skyward, praying that no one would ask about it, before his hand snapped out, writing, "no calls," next to his name so he would only be bothered if it was a real emergency.

Of course he was not that lucky, and he could feel the hairs on the back of his neck standing on end as he finished off the last character.

"No calls, hunh?" Dojima's voice came from behind him, and Adachi cringed.  Great, here it comes… "This wouldn't have anything to do with a certain beach trip, would it?"

Adachi rubbed at the back of his neck, trying to laugh off his partner's suspicion, though it looked like he was only making it worse.

"W-what?  That's silly," he stammered out.  "I'm just relaxing, you know?  Doctor's orders.  Eh heh…"

He was really wondering what happened to his amazing ability to lie out of his teeth, because convincing lies were just not a thing anymore.  Dojima stared him down, and he felt like a little kid that was about to get reprimanded.  It took a long moment of him cowering under that stare before his partner finally relented, letting out a faint sigh.

"I don't know what you're hanging around a bunch of kids for…" Dojima began, "but if you're going on this trip, keep an eye on my nephew.  He's been jittery and nervous during the last few months; it's like his girlfriend isn't keeping him busy enough."

Considering Seito's girlfriend was Rise, Adachi found that hard to believe.  Still, he could see that his partner was worried, and a faint smile worked its way onto his face.

"Don't worry, Dojima-san," he assured him faintly.  "I'm sure he'll be okay."

Dojima did not look so convinced, but he shrugged it off.  His partner obviously had more important matters on his mind, and Adachi soon found out what that was as a massive folder of paperwork was dumped in his arms.

"You're needed for an interrogation," he began.  "Namatame's been conscious, but he refuses to talk to anyone but you.  Dunno if it's because he knew it would keep him from being put through the system or what, but you're officially here now."

Adachi held the folder gingerly, not really sure he wanted to talk to Namatame, after everything that happened.  He let out a breath, and Dojima raised an eyebrow at his reluctance.  He shook his head after a moment, tucking the folder under his arm and starting for his desk to look over the material first, even though he already knew what to expect.  Just like Dojima said, numerous attempts to question him had only led to requests to speak with Adachi.  They had been able to continue holding him on the "assault on a police officer" charge, but not on the murder of Mayumi Yamano, not yet.

He sighed when he was finally ready to go collect Namatame, Dojima taking point for the obvious reason of he had assaulted Adachi "once" already.  His partner dragged him off to an interrogation room first, and Namatame's eyes snapped to Adachi as soon as he was brought in, making him feel even more uncomfortable than he already was.  After a moment he opened his mouth to start, but the older man cut him off quickly.

"He needs to leave," he said, nodding to Dojima.

"Forget it," Dojima snapped back gruffly.  Any other time, Adachi might have been grateful for the support, but…

"I've got this," he said, and of course his partner opened his mouth to protest.  "I've _got_ it."

Dojima shot Namatame a distrustful look, before giving a faint nod, stepping out of the door.  Adachi knew that he would be just outside the door, listening for anything that sounded out of the ordinary, though that did not keep Namatame from leaning forward.  An earnest look was on his face, desperate for an explanation that he had not been able to get for months.

"That… that other world…" he hissed.  "It…!"

Adachi held his hands up, gesturing for him to be silent.  "That can't go on record; same with the girl you grabbed," he murmured faintly, at once refusing to talk about it and confirming that yes, whatever he remembered seeing in there was real.  Namatame shook as he sat back in his seat, looking relieved by that, even though it was obvious he had more questions.  He managed to keep them back, finally looking back over to Adachi with wide, pleading eyes begging for forgiveness.

"I didn't… I didn't want…"

Again he held his hands up, trying to keep the clearly unstable man calm.  He could not blame him for being jittery after everything that happened, and then having to wait for this long to speak with someone that would not immediately have him locked up in a mental ward.  However, having him this nervous while trying to get a confession out of him was only going to make Adachi's job harder.

"Hey, take a deep breath," Adachi said.  "I'm here now to talk about this, but I'll need you to be calm."

Namatame nodded as for a moment he just breathed, his nerves slowly calming down and the twitch that had been in his hands coming to a gradual stop.

"Why don't you start at the beginning," Adachi offered once he seemed calm enough.

"The beginning…?  That would be back in April, when my affair went public…" Namatame cautioned, but he just waved him to go on.  He looked uncertain, but took another deep breath.  "After my affair with Mayumi went public, we were both disgraced from our jobs.  The news station had taken her off the air as a temporary measure at first, but then fired her shortly after, and I was dismissed from the councilman's office almost immediately.  We were both from here, and I went to live and work with my parents while I heard Mayumi stayed at the Amagi Inn for a time.  I tried to talk to her then, but she was not allowing visitors.  Even after she left the inn she refused to see me, no matter how desperately I pleaded with her."

Adachi remained silent, just listening to what he had to say.  It sounded like Yamano did not want to have anything to do with him after her career suffered from being exposed like that.  He could not exactly blame her, but…

"When I finally saw her again…" Namatame continued, shaking.  He ducked his head down, covering the top of his head with his arms.  "We fought… she got to the edge of the stairs and…"

He was shaking pretty hard at that point, and Adachi still remained silent as he rested his head against the table and sobbed.

"I didn't want to admit to what happened…" he whimpered.  "I loved her so much… I never wanted her to die.  I left her body up like the others that had been murdered, and tried to tell myself it wasn't my fault, but the guilt just… and when I saw that cop at Junes, I…"

Adachi let out a faint breath, before placing a pen down on his notepad and pushing it toward Namatame.  He lifted his head then, looking up at him with fear in his eyes.

"I-I heard them talking… they're saying they'll pin all the murders on me, but I never touched any of them," he began, his voice just above a whisper.  "Please… you won't let them do that, will you?"

That would have been the easy thing to do, would it not?  Just pin it all on someone else and help keep things a little calmer around this town.  Adachi blew out a sigh; the problem was he knew better, even if he was not diving into televisions.  It was a poor copy cat murder, and even with people calling for a suspect's head, he was not about to just toss any old idiot into the fire.

"Yeah, I won't," he said, tapping the pad as he felt the warmth spread through him.  "Just write down everything you told me and sign it, and I'll make sure Yamano's death and what's related to it is all you go down for."

It took Namatame a long time to write out something legible and sign it, and it was at least a good hour before Adachi could leave the interrogation room.  Dojima had his back against the wall right next to the door, glancing at his partner as he left the room.  He did not say anything as he pulled the door closed, handing the confession over to him without a word.  Dojima took it, glancing over it, before giving his partner a critical look.

"…want to come over for a beer tonight?" he asked.

_"Yes."_

~.oOOo.~

A pleasant buzz settled over Adachi as he stumbled into his apartment that night, not quite drunk enough to be tripping over himself, but enough to be happy about the world.  He was sure a few more drinks would make him even happier, and he went straight for his fridge for one.  Unfortunately when he pulled the door open, there was nothing inside – not even a cabbage leaf – and it took his booze addled brain a moment to figure out why.  He glanced to the side, finding a trail of empty beer cans leading to his bedroom.

 _"Teddie…!"_ he snapped, suddenly very sober as he stumbled to the bedroom.

The stupid bear was in his costume on his bed, rolling around and hiccupping like an idiot.  The rest of the beer that had been in his fridge was scattered around, empty can after empty can, and it could not be any more obvious that the bear was drunk on his ass.  Adachi was so livid, he could not even scream, and instead grabbed the idiot and shoved him in his closet, closing the door behind him.

He did not show the bear any mercy when he woke up the next morning, banging around in annoyance as he tried to find one bite of food that his roommate might have missed, only to come up empty.  There was no choice but to stop by the building's vending machines for breakfast, before he finally went back up to bang open the closet door.  Teddie whimpered in pain, turning away from the light, and he frowned at the bear's back, coaxing him out of the closet and actually succeeding after what felt like forever.

A few hours later found him dragging the bear by his ear despite his protests about not feeling well, and Adachi knew they had to be a comical sight in the middle of Junes like this, but he did not care that much.  It was either this, or he was going to shove the bear back in the television, and he was not about to do that just yet.

When he found Saki at the food court, she looked like her immediate response was to say that she was not taking him back.  Adachi held up a hand before she could get it out, thrusting the idiot toward her.

"Give this dumbass a job."

Saki stared in mute surprise, mouth working for a moment before she finally managed to get sound out.

"It's not that simple," she protested.  "You should know this.  We can't just say he's hired, you know."

Adachi managed a lopsided grin.  "C'mon, I know you're more resourceful than that."

Saki looked like she was going to give him a lecture, but did not get the chance.  Adachi realized why she stopped dead a moment later, spinning around to see Teddie was nowhere to be found.  He nearly screamed as his head whipped around looking for him, finally spotting him not all that far away surrounded by a tribe of kids.  They were letting out happy giggles as Teddie entertained them, flailing his arms and generally being cute.

Adachi glanced at Saki, about to say something, when another voice spoke up before he could.

"Oh… what's this here?"

Saki looked like she was going to jump out of her skin, and Adachi turned to see a vaguely familiar face framed with brown hair and glasses.  She fumbled a moment, finally throwing out the first thing that came to her mind.

"Ah… it was my idea, Hanamura-san," she stumbled.  "Adachi-san said his cousin was in town, and he's so cute in his bear suit, I thought he would be a good mascot."

Hanamura… Adachi spared a glance toward Saki, but she did not want to return it.  Instead her eyes remained on the store manager, gauging his reaction.

"It is a good idea…" he murmured, before his gaze turned to Adachi.  "Your cousin?  How long will he be in town?"

"Uh… indefinitely, I think," Adachi replied, as Teddie finally squeaked back over to them once the kids broke up.  He looked up curiously at the store manager, especially as Hanamura smiled faintly down at him.

"Well, you've certainly got a way with the children here, young man," he said.  "Would you like to work here?"

Teddie's ears and tail wiggled.  "You want me to play with the kids all day?" he asked, bouncing back and forth on his feet.  "That'd be grrrrrreat!"

Hanamura chuckled as Adachi rolled his eyes skyward.  "Wow, you really get into character," he said.  "All right, we can have the paperwork filled out."

The store manager nodded to him, and Adachi patted Teddie on the head, letting him know he would be right there to help with the paperwork.  The two of them walked off, with the bear talking excitedly about what working there would be like, and Adachi turned to glance at Saki.  She had a bewildered look on her face, like she could not believe that actually worked.

"How do you do that?" he asked.

She just shrugged helplessly.

Adachi jogged to catch up with Teddie, and he forced himself to sit through the long explanation of what Teddie's responsibilities would be while working at the store.  The bear had taken his costume off once they had gotten into the office, but it still looked like he would be wiggling his tail in excitement at the thought of working there.

Finally, Hanamura was getting the paperwork out, and Adachi intercepted it before Teddie could get his hands on it, not even wanting to imagine what Teddie's handwriting would look like.

"He's… not very good with kanji yet," he explained, and Hanamura gave a nod as he looked down over the form.  First and family name… crap; he knew using "Teddie" for his first name would be fine, but most places did not like workers having the family name foreign as well.  He was tempted to use "Teddie Kumada", but someone would have probably called him out on that really quick.

He let out a grunt, quickly filling out the rest and hoping he would not end up regretting it later.  Once he handed it back, Hanamura took care of his end of the hiring information, before giving Teddie a copy of the paperwork as well as a welcome packet, letting him know that he could start training with Saki the next day.  Teddie's face was buried in the paperwork as they left the office, leaving Adachi to carry his suit around in grumbling irritation.  He could not really see around the suit, so he almost missed it when Teddie stopped walking.

"Sensei…?" he asked, making him turn around.  "They asked for a family name on this?"

"Hunh?  Oh, yeah… you need a given and family name to work at places in the real world," he explained.

"But I don't…" Teddie began, trailing off, what he was going to say obvious.  He peered closer at the paper, frowning at it.  "What did you put?  'Add-a-cheese'?  But I'm a bear, not a mouse."

Adachi frowned, and probably would have swatted him on the back of the head if his hands were free.

"'Adachi'!  I used my family name."

He moved to keep going, but Teddie was still standing where he was.  It took him a moment to realize he had not moved, and Adachi was about to lose what little patience he had left with the idiot bear as he stomped back toward him.  Teddie surprised him, however; as soon as he got close enough he latched onto him, clinging to him tight.

"Whoa…?" Adachi responded, his confusion obvious.  "What's with you all of a sudden?"

Teddie shook his head against his chest.  "…I didn't think I'd get a family when I came out here," he muttered into his shirt.

Adachi paused, trying to process what he said, before his face turned a vibrant shade of red.  "W-well… you got friends before coming out here… so isn't that kinda the same thing?" he asked, and Teddie responded with a sniff.  He rolled his eyes, reaching down to run his fingers through the bear's hair and not surprised to feel that familiar feeling of warmth in his chest… before thumping his fist on top of his head.  "Your first paycheck is still going toward eating all my food!"

Teddie pouted up at him, tears still clinging to his eyes.  "Boo!  That's not fair, all you had was cabbage!  What was I supposed to eat!?"

"Something other than everything?!" Adachi replied, letting out an irritable noise.  Now that he had an unexpected roommate, he supposed he should have something other than his usual in the apartment… and learn how to cook.  That thought made him shudder; he did not even want to think about how much of a disaster that would be.  Maybe he would ask Saki or Yukiko for help; they had to be better cooks than he was.

He shook his head after a moment, dragging Teddie forward with him.  "C'mon, you're not out of the woods yet.  We're stuffing this thing in the car and you're learning what grocery shopping is like."

~.oOOo.~

Adachi could now officially say he had driven in a limo at least once in his life, without awkwardly trying to explain about the unconscious and a cranky limousine attendant.

He kicked back, allowing himself to nearly sink into the plush seating as Teddie bounced happily next to him, practically sticking his face out the window like an excited dog.  The detective only cracked his eye open on occasion to make sure he did not actually lean out of the moving vehicle, but otherwise did not bother trying to stop him.

The others were the complete opposite, however; they were talking excitedly amongst themselves, and especially Rise was trying to nudge Kanji closer to Naoto and get him to start a conversation with her.  He stared at Naoto dumbly, mouth working… before he finally bailed, shooting over to sit by Adachi where it was safe.  Rise giggled, clinging to her boyfriend now that she did not have Kanji to torture, and Seito jumped slightly at the contact, like he had not really been paying attention to what she was doing.  He smiled at her faintly, wrapping an arm around her, but he was so tense and stiff that it looked entirely awkward.

"Are you okay?" Rise asked him softly, calming down as she reached over, placing a comforting hand on his chest.  He glanced down at her, relaxing a little bit.

"Yeah… sorry," Seito replied softly.

Adachi glanced at him sidelong as the kid rested back against the seat, obviously still on edge.  Dojima was not kidding; his nephew looked like a good breeze would crack him in half.  He gathered that the kid was shy, going from how little he spoke when he was at his partner's house, but it seemed like having Rise for a girlfriend was doing him more harm than good.  She seemed to understand because she did not do much more other than lean against him after that, but it still did little to calm him down.

It was not long before the beach was looming before them, and Kanji was the first to shoot out of the limo, dragging Teddie with him to where they could change into swim shorts.  The girls followed out just behind, with Rise holding Seito's hand the whole way as they filed out.  Adachi was last out, standing up and taking a deep breath of salty air.  It was still warm, and the light glinted brightly off the water, looking more like it was a sparkling sea of gems then water.

"Adachi-san!" Rise called from the beach.  "C'mon!  Get changed!"

Adachi let out a faint noise, tugging at the collar of his shirt.  He had worn a suit, only because it was the first thing that fell out of his side of the closet, and he was already starting to feel uncomfortable.  More importantly…

"I can't!  I don't have swim trunks," he called back to her, which was… sort of the truth.  He did have a pair, but he had given them to Teddie since he did not have anything.

He should have known by now that saying, "no," was never enough to deter the former idol.  She bounced back up to the road, a devious look on her face.  Next thing Adachi knew, he was being grabbed by the arm and propelled down the beach, stumbling the whole way.

"Wai—!  Rise!" he shouted.  "What do you expect me to wear?!  My underwear?!"

"Of course not, silly!" she exclaimed, shoving him into one of the changing booths.  Adachi let out a sound of protest that quickly turned into a yelp as a bag was tossed over the door, hitting him in the head.  "I figured you didn't have a pair, so I got you one!"

Adachi stared at the bag a moment; it was a nice gesture, but… _"Why_ do you know my short size!?  Do you know how creepy that is!?"

Rise let out a giggle in response.  "Just get changed!"

He let out a tired sigh, pulled out the shorts and making a face.  "Cabbages?  _Really, Rise?!"_

"Just change!"

Adachi let out another annoyed noise, finally reluctantly pulling his clothes off and exchanging them for the bright green and purple shorts.  He felt completely ridiculous, but he still stepped out, a sour look on his face as the first thing he heard was laughter.  Seito had changed as well, and she clung to him, trying to hide her giggles against his arm as the detective fixed his sour expression on her.

"Very funny, Rise," he replied as others started coming out, Teddie practically bouncing along the sand in Adachi's old blue checkered shorts.  He let out a sigh as she came up to him, poking at his side and getting him to squeak.

"What… I thought you were just skinny, but you look like you're wasting away," she commented, trying to poke him again as he fumbled away from her.  "Do you want me to come cook for you?"

"Hunh?" Adachi asked, blinking in surprise.  "You can cook?"

Rise nodded, saying that of course she could, but Adachi caught movement out of the corner of his eye as she did.  Seito's eyes had gone wide, and he was shaking his head rapidly.

"Ahh… I think I can handle myself," he said, getting a pout in answer.  She did not get the chance to insist, as Saki let out a yelp, staring wide eyed over Adachi's shoulder.  Everyone turned, and Adachi went scrambling for Teddie, smacking his hands over his eyes.

"Kanji!" he shouted as Teddie struggled to see.  "What the hell!?"

The tall teen's face scrunched up in annoyance, a faint tint of pink coming to his face.  It was like a rehash of what they went through in the bath house, only the Speedo Kanji had on was somehow _less_ clothing than what his Shadow had on.

"W-what!?" Kanji demanded.  "It's a racing Speedo!"

"It's racy all right…"

"HEY!"

Teddie finally broke away from Adachi's hands, blinking at Kanji's extreme lack of clothing.

"Hey… is that what you use to hunt for pussy cats?"

If it were not for the fact that Kanji looked like he was going to murder, Adachi might have laughed.  As it was, Teddie had to bolt away from him as the teen stomped his foot, shaking his fist at him.

 _"Stupid bear!"_ he bellowed.  _"I'm gonna kick your ass!"_

For a moment, Kanji looked like he was going to bolt after the bear, but he ended up stopping short instead.  Adachi glanced over his shoulder to see that Naoto had finally emerged from the dressing rooms, completely red in the face, though that was not the first thing he noticed.  Despite the fact that she was trying to cover herself, it was pretty easy to see the cute blue two-piece the girls had picked out for her, lined with what looked like belts, complete with buckles.  Really, it suited her, even though she looked like she was going to die of embarrassment.

Adachi glanced behind him at Kanji, before shuffling in front of him.  Really, that Speedo hid nothing at all.

"Naoto-kun, you look great in that!" Saki exclaimed, trying to coax her out and get her to lower her arms.  Of course, Rise bounded right up to her, grabbing her and squishing against her.

"I knew you'd be perfect in that!" she exclaimed as Naoto let out a shriek, before dragging her toward the water.  "C'mon!  Let's have fun!"

Saki and Yukiko let out a tired sigh at Rise's over enthusiasm, following just behind.  Teddie wailed for them to wait for him, bouncing after them.  Seito glanced over at Adachi and Kanji, following after them before Rise could shout for him.

Adachi glanced behind him to check, before asking, "You good now?"

"Yeah, I'm good," Kanji replied, a big, dopey grin on his face.

"Good… now wipe the blood off your nose."

Kanji scrambled for something to wipe his nose off, and Adachi let out a sigh as he watched him finally find a piece of seaweed that he could use.  The detective hesitated a moment, working his lip beneath his teeth, before he decided to just blurt it out.

"You okay after the other day?" he asked.

"Hunh?  Oh, yeah," Kanji replied evasively, and Adachi toed at the sand.  This was going to be difficult; any other time he would just leave it like that, but…

"D'ya wanna talk about it?"

Kanji paused, glancing over at the detective, and Adachi thought for sure he was going to get snapped at for trying to pry at him.  After a moment, he finally let out an irritated grumble, standing up.

"…my old man died in the hospital," he said.  "I was busy doing something else at the time; I didn't even know until later."

"Your mom's a tough old lady," Adachi replied, a bit of a smile creeping up on his face.  "I doubt much will be able to keep her down for long."

"I know that," Kanji admitted.  "But… doesn't mean I ain't scared.  She's all I got left; I don't want anything to happen to her."

Adachi fell quiet as he watched him.  The kid could do just about anything with his hands, was surprisingly gentle with the people he trusted, and yet at the same time was the toughest, most badass defender out of any of them.  He was basically everything he would not have expected from him, and he could not help the faint smile creeping onto his face.

"…you're pretty awesome, kid."

He did not even realize he said it until Kanji glared back at him, pink in the face.

"T-tch… what's with being all nice like that all of a sudden?" he grumbled.  "Quit acting like an old man."

Despite the harshness of his tone, Adachi still felt that warm feeling growing in his chest.


	30. Chapter Twenty-four – Back to Old Places

It was the blue of the elevator that greeted Adachi when he fell asleep that evening, and Michael was standing there with a faint smirk on his lips.  He did not bother with a greeting, instead opening his book to reveal the Tower, Star, and Emperor Arcanas floating up.  Unlike the other times where his cranky attendant clearly had obvious issues with him, Michael actually seemed impressed as he snatched the Tower card out of the air, closing the book as the others faded.

"I'm impressed by your progress," he said absently.  "One would almost think you were cheating."

"Gee, thanks," Adachi replied dryly, giving him a dull look in return.  "But… it does seem to be easier than I thought it would be."

The smirk widened as he tapped the Tower against the side of his face.  "An unexpected act of generosity and honesty can quicken bonds.  It may seem fast to you, but considering your active effort to reach out to your world after being closed off for so long, it should not be that much of a surprise."

Adachi's mouth worked for a moment, before he leaned back on his feet, pressing his lips together as Michael's words processed in his head.  Meanwhile that smirk of his turned a little sly, and the detective picked up on it just as his attendant crushed the Tower card in his hand.  Yoshitsune was flying out at him with the intent to kill, and Adachi reacted, calling on the Star before he could even think about what Persona he was going to call forth.

Considering the Star was supposed to represent Teddie, he was not _entirely_ shocked when something small and cute appeared to defend him.  The cat was wearing full out shogun armor, letting out a meow as he blocked the attack.  The Japanese war general flashed an almost threatening grin, coming down on the cat with his other sword.  With his tiny sword already occupied with blocking one attack, the cat could only do so much to defend himself, and Adachi flinched, grabbing for his shoulder as the Persona was injured.

Adachi reached out, and Yoshitsune was set off balance as Neko Shogun disappeared, to be replaced with Sarasvati.  The maiden was more than happy to drop a block of ice on the general's head, leaving him temporarily dazed.  It was short lived, but long enough that he retaliated against the air.  Adachi swapped out again, calling on Death to bring out the White Rider.  The skeleton raised his bow, calling up the darkness to surround Yoshitsune, and he got to enjoy the sight of Michael's eyes growing wide as he fumbled for his book.

"Yes, got you…!" Adachi hissed, watching the darkness creep up around the general and…

…the spell was bounced back at the detective's Persona, doing the rider no harm, but still leaving Adachi confused for a moment.  When the darkness cleared, there was a young girl standing in the general's place.  She looked more like a doll than a human being, with near white skin and pale gold hair.  A giggle escaped from her as she rocked back and forth on her feet, her blue dress swishing around her legs.

"Hey mister!" she called.  "Would you kindly do me a favor?"

Adachi stared, not sure how to respond. These guys were not supposed to talk, right?  "Uh… sure?"

That was obviously the wrong answer, because she started to giggle as the darkness crept up around her.

"Would you die for me?"

Adachi's eyes went wide, and a feeling of dread had him looking up above him.  There were thousands upon thousands of card soldiers falling from the sky right toward him, spears forward, ready to impale him.  He swapped over to Izanagi to defend himself, but there were just too many of them; spears sliced through his arms and legs, and one smacked soundly against his head, hard enough to knock him out.

The little girl giggled, clapping her hands happily, before disappearing.  Michael lowered his compendium, swaying slightly on his feet at the uncomfortably close call, just as the sound of footsteps approaching reached his ears.

"I think you overdid it."

Michael glanced behind him at his fellow attendant, a faint sound of annoyance escaping from him.  He really was not in the mood for this, not after what just happened.

"He's getting better a little _too_ quickly," he muttered.  "Not sure how I feel about that."  He paused, glancing at the other attendant.  "How can you just stand there and watch this?  Don't you feel at least a little bitter?"

The attendant glanced over to the detective, watching him fade away as he returned to his conscious mind.  It was weird for him to be on this end of things, but he still smiled faintly.

"I think… it's good," he said softly.  "It's nice to know what I saw wasn't just my imagination."

Michael stared at him, before letting out a snort.  "…you're an idiot."

He laughed faintly in response.  "Maybe; wouldn't be the first time I was called that," he replied, before reaching over to nudge Michael chidingly.  "You should at least try to be more open with him yourself, you know.  You might find an answer you've been looking for too."

~.oOOo.~

Adachi looked and felt like death warmed over when he crawled into work the next day, flinching as the tiny remnants of his fight in the Velvet Room reminded him of how much he had completely underestimated Michael.  Dammit, that grumpy little bastard was never going to let up on him, but he knew as soon as he walked into the door of the station that he was not going to get the chance to grumble about it for very long.  There was shouting coming from one of the back rooms, heard clearly from the detectives' offices, and then there was the familiar scream he had come to expect:

_"ADACHI!"_

He let out a sigh, muttering a, "Coming," as he headed toward the source.  Once he located the room where the shouting was coming from, he got treated to a rather interesting scene.  Dojima was leaning up against the wall, fingers pressed on either side of his nose and looking like he was seriously contemplating murder.  A buxom woman with enough makeup on her face that even a clown would say was too much was sitting next to an elderly man, who seemed to move so slow that he would start going backwards any second.  The woman zeroed in on Adachi as soon as he entered the door, and the creepy, hungry smile that appeared on her lips made him take an uneasy step backward.

Oh god, what was he getting into now?

"Y-you called for me, Dojima-san?"

For the briefest, most fleeting of moments, Dojima actually seemed grateful to see Adachi standing there.  The faint smile of relief disappeared quickly, but the younger detective was certain that it was forever implanted in his memory.  His partner waved vaguely at the old man and the woman, the latter of which was preoccupied with arranging herself to something that was supposed to be presentable.  Unfortunately for her, Adachi was fairly certain if she "discreetly" unbuttoned another bit of her shirt, he was going to go running out the door.

"Adachi, this is the principal from the high school," Dojima explained, not even about to address the woman, despite how rude that was.  "He has a request for us regarding a trip coming up for their first and second year students."

"Yes," the old man began, and Adachi could already tell he was going to be one of those people that spoke incredibly slowly.  "Regarding the fact that the murderer in your case still has not been found, and there was suspicion that a student may be involved, we have concerns about the safety of our students and teachers on this trip."

Adachi knew there was a point to why he specifically was called back for this; it was not just because Dojima wanted back up in telling these people to stuff it.  He was not that lucky, and he had a sinking suspicion he knew what was going to happen next.

"Where are you taking your students?"

It was the woman that answered him, and instead of the sharp tone he heard from her earlier, she was clearly being outright flirtatious.  Adachi could not be any more turned off he tried.

"We will be going to Iwatodai," she began.  "It's meant to be a cultural experience between urban and rural students."

Adachi felt his stomach hit his shoes; he knew it.

"You were originally stationed in Iwatodai," Dojima began.  "You would know the area better than anyone else here."

He could appreciate the logic behind it; he seriously could not picture any of the other idiots they worked with handling themselves even remotely well in the city.  Hell, even Dojima was competent, and he could not picture his partner stuck in the middle of the city looking after a bunch of kids and that… person sitting next to the school principal.  He would probably look more like a tourist than a detective, and as entertaining as the mental image was, he was not about to do that to his partner.

Still, Iwatodai…

"Yeah, I'm probably the best one here to look after your students," he found himself saying, silently wishing he could kick himself in the ass.

"Good!" the woman exclaimed before the principal could say anything.  She got up to leave, pausing by Adachi to offer him a sultry smile.  "I'll look forward to seeing you there…"

A creepy, cold feeling crawled up Adachi's spine as she left, the principal letting Dojima know that they would pass on the details before following after her.  It took him hearing a snort from his partner to realize he had a weird expression on his face, and he shot the older man a disgruntled look.

"Why does this always happen to me…?" he muttered under his breath as his partner came over, clapping him on the shoulder.

"Don't worry, it could always be worse."

~.oOOo.~

Adachi wanted to call Dojima on his bullshit about how it could be worse within two minutes of the trip.

It barely took him anytime at all to realize that the teacher, Noriko Kashiwagi, was more interested in his "protection" than she was in making sure the students were not harmed.  She had latched onto him as soon as he arrived at the school bright and early that morning, commenting immediately about how wonderful it was to have such a handsome young man looking after them.  As if that were not enough to make him sick, he noticed really fast that he was not the only subject of this flirtatious behavior, as it had been directed at a number of the male students while she was clinging to him.  He almost spoke up at how inappropriate she was being when she sent Seito near running, red faced, for his seat after a comment, but he managed to clamp his mouth shut, least he make it worse.

He had the displeasure of being forced to sit next to the teacher, enduring her constant attempts at engaging him in conversations he did not care about while he attempted to keep an eye on the kids behind them through the bus's mirrors.  Everything seemed more or less fine at least, and he was grateful that Yukiko, Kanji, Naoto, Rise, and Seito were sitting close by where he could see them without straining his neck around too much.  Other than Seito being shy as always, they all looked like they were having a lot more fun than he was.  More than once he caught Kanji and Yukiko giving him sympathetic glances, and that only made Adachi even more depressed to be sitting next to the teacher from hell.

By the time the long trip to Iwatodai was over, Adachi wanted to kiss the paved ground of the bus terminal, but of course he was not going to be given the chance to do that.  Kashiwagi was determined to keep him close to her side, and he could not help but notice more than a few of the male students looked grateful that it was another adult getting her treatment instead of them.  Adachi was not even sure he was adult enough to deserve what she was putting him through.

"Everyone, please stay together!" Kashiwagi called as the students unloaded from the buses, and it was hard to miss her chest was close enough to bounce against his arm.  He tried to take a step away, but she stuck right next to him, drawing a suffering sigh from him.

Before long, they were off to their first stop in the cultural exchange trip.  It was a fairly simple itinerary to follow; the first day they would be at the school located on the manmade Tatsumi Port Island, Gekkoukan High, where the students would take a tour of the school before sitting through lectures all day.  Adachi would be following the students through the school and sit in on the lectures, much to his misfortune; he was not exactly in the mood to sit through class again.  From there it would be to the hotel for the night, and then the next day would be spent touring the factories around the city.  He expected half the students to skip out on that part of the trip; in fact, he was fairly certain he had heard Rise whispering about skipping out to go to places she knew about.

Adachi cast his eyes skyward as they started for the bullet train that would take them to the school, silently praying for nothing else to go wrong on this nightmare trip.  At least being on the familiar train made it easier for him to tune Kashiwagi's flirting out, and he stared out the window at the wide city passing by him quickly.  A tight feeling gripped at his chest, like his heart was going to leap out and lose itself in the streets below, and he found himself missing that fresh-faced idiot that would take the same train all over the city, happily going from work to his home to the grocery like there was nothing that could go wrong with his life.  Part of him would have given anything to be that naïve again; everything just felt so easy back then…

Then again, that naïve idiot might have enjoyed the attention Kashiwagi was trying to get out of him.  _Never mind._

They all stepped out on the platform for Gekkoukan, and Kashiwagi forced him to stay glued to her side, dragging him over to where the school principal and a young woman in a school uniform were standing, waiting to receive them.  Pleasantries were exchanged, hands were shook, and Adachi tried very hard to pay attention to what the students were doing, but Kashiwagi kept forcing him to pay attention to her conversation.  He was fairly certain that he wanted to scream at this point, but he managed to keep it in somehow.

With pleasantries set aside, the young woman stepped forward, bowing to the group of Yasogami students and welcoming them to the high school.  Adachi could not help but notice that a few of the guys were oogling her, not that he could blame them; the whole bespectacled librarian look was really going for her.  From there it was into the school itself, and even he had to be impressed with the place.  He had never been inside Gekkoukan himself; he had seen it plenty of times from the train, but never had a reason to go in, despite the many weird things that seemed to happen while he was stationed in Iwatodai.

After the long tour, the students were filed into two classrooms, one for the first years and another for the second years.  Adachi managed to duck into the second year room, narrowly avoiding Kashiwagi grabbing his arm and dragging him… wherever it was that she was going to drag him; he really did not want to know.  Allowing himself a moment to let out a sigh of relief, he headed to the back of the room, leaning against the wall and watching the students take their seats in front of the professor assigned to the lecture that was going to take place.

The guy standing at the head of the class looked like he would be more at home in the middle of a lab than in a classroom, and even still, Adachi was not entirely sure about that.  He wore a lab coat and the thickest pair of glasses he had ever seen in his life; so thick that it was almost impossible to make out the man’s eyes.  The professor might have had a professional look going for him, if it were not for the fact that beyond the lab coat, he had a striped shirt and cutoffs, showing off his hairy calves and the beat up sandals on his feet.  Adachi raised an eyebrow as the professor cleared his throat, wondering what the hell kind of lecture this was going to be; unconventional herbalism, perhaps?

"Welcome, welcome," the professor began, "I'm Edogawa, professor of mysticism here at Gekkoukan."

Adachi raised both eyebrows, disbelief on his face; seriously?

"So you are the students from Yasogami, hmm…?" Edogawa continued, looking like he was peering at all of them through his thick glasses.  "A high school of many gods… well then."

He paused a moment, like he was having a conversation with himself, before he continued, "I was going to give a lecture on the Qabbalah, but I have a better idea.  Life is full of many greetings and partings.  Since we are meeting today, I will tell you a story of partings.

"You may well know the story of the creators of our country.  They are the twins Izanagi and Izanami; brother and sister, husband and wife."

Adachi had been ready to zone out until he heard the name of his Persona mentioned.  Within seconds, Edogawa had his complete attention.

"The two of them got along well, until the day Izanami gave birth to the fire god, Kagutsuchi, and died," the professor continued.  "Grieving the loss of his wife, Izanagi traveled to the depths of Yomi to bring her back, but she had already become a denizen of the underworld.  She bade him wait while she consulted with the lords of Yomi, but curiosity got the better of him.  He set flame to his comb, and when he saw that his wife had become a rotting corpse, Izanagi fled."

Adachi felt an unsettled feeling in the pit of his stomach, and he shifted uncomfortably.

"He dodged the demons of the underworld, sent by Izanami to bring him back, but he made it to the entrance, to the path known as Yomotsu Hirasaka.  He blocked the way using a massive boulder that Izanami could not move, and when she reached the blocked path she cried and cursed at her husband, swearing that she would kill a thousand humans a day if he did not release her.  Izanagi solemnly replied that he would give rise to fifteen hundred humans every day, and with that, their bond was broken."

Edogawa paused for dramatic effect, a slightly creepy chuckle escaping from him.  Most of the students had drifted off, not taking the lecture seriously and gazed longingly for the grounds outside.  There were still those dedicated students that were hanging on his every word, Yukiko among them.  At his pause, she stole a glance behind her, catching Adachi's eye.  She was probably thinking that maybe it meant something, that it might be relevant to his Persona; or maybe it was just a coincidence.  With all this TV crap, Adachi was not about to write anything off as "just a coincidence".

"This powerful curse that this country is under is known as the 'kodoto'," Edogawa continued.  "As for the entomology, Izanagi and Izanami are derived from the word 'izanau', meaning 'to invite'.  I hope you take this as an 'invitation' to gain more knowledge."

Adachi zoned out once the professor let out another one of those creepy chuckles, his mind drifting off to the story he just heard.  Izanagi… it was pretty weird that a guy like him had ended up with a Persona like that.  Now that he thought about it, not only did he have no idea why he would end up with such an important figure as part of him, but he had no idea how these Personae even worked.  And what was up with his "Wild" ability, and why did it let him call on more than one of those things?  He let out a soft sigh, gazing upward; he could bring this up in the Room, but he had a feeling his grumpy attendant would just smack him upside the head with his ridiculously huge book.  No, he was going to need to look this information up for himself, if it could even be found in the real world.

Him being a stubborn ass had really put him behind in a lot of things… but really, the only thing he could do now was try as hard as he could to make up for it.

~.oOOo.~

The bus was quiet as they drove off down the familiar streets of the city, everyone tired from the long day of walking followed by the long lectures they had to sit through.  Adachi himself was suffering the all too familiar feeling of having his brain stuffed with cotton, and it made it even easier for him to ignore Kashiwagi pestering him.  That was, at least, until she snaked her arms around one of his, pressing herself uncomfortably close and making Adachi feel like he jumped clear out of his skin.

"Y-yes?"

"Hmm… detective, I think you'll enjoy the place we have booked to stay at," she practically purred at him.  He was pretty sure his skin crawled off his body and squirmed away at the tone of her voice alone.  "Perhaps after you make sure the students are secure, you could check in on me, hm?"

Oh hell no; Adachi swallowed hard, feeling the blood drain straight out of his face and probably the rest of his body as well.  Could this woman get any creepier?

"U-uh… w-well, your room would be on my patrol route…" he muttered under his breath, silently promising he would get back at Dojima for this somehow.

Much to his misfortune, she did not let go of him until the bus came to a stop, despite how hard he tried to sit as far away from her as he could.  Thankfully, she got off the bus first, allowing him to breathe and try and get some feeling back in his arm as he stood up, making sure all the students filed off the bus before following them out.

He did not know what to expect, but in hind sight, he probably should have anticipated finding himself standing outside the Seaside Clamshell Inn.  Adachi was familiar with the place, of course; he had been one of the detectives investigating the vandalism event a couple years ago, in which a number of the mirrors in the place had mysteriously broken over the span of a minute sometime in the late night.  Even though the cost to repair all the damages had ultimately led to the Inn being closed down, there had been a number of reports of suspicious activity at that location in the past, not to mention _other_ complaints.

He sighed, casting his eyes skyward again; he was just not going to be able to catch a break during this trip, was he?

"We're here, everyone!" Kashiwagi chirped, looking insanely proud of herself.  "Isn't this place amazing?  It was recently renovated, and we got a steal of a price on it."

Adachi planted a hand over his face, trying not to let out a groan, especially as one of the students voiced exactly what was on everyone's minds:

"But this looks like a Love—"

"All right, everyone!  File in for your rooms!" the flamboyant teacher called before the student could finish.  Uneasy glances were passed between the students, before they reluctantly started to trickle inside.  He could not blame them one bit; he did not want to go in the Inn when he was stationed in the town, and even less so with Kashiwagi practically throwing herself at him.

He paused, glancing around for a familiar punk face, but Kanji must have already filed into the hotel.  A muttered curse escaped from him; he had been hoping he would be able to use the much taller teen as cover to sneak past her, but no such luck.  As the crowd thinned, however, he could see a familiar head of grey hair, and he noted that Seito's usually expressionless face was screwed up to match the discomfort that everyone was feeling.  He wormed his way over to him, noting happily that Kashiwagi had gone after a student that cracked a particularly nasty joke, and was not paying attention to him at the moment.

"Hey, kid…" he began, before pausing, noticing that discomfort looked like it ran a little deeper than just dealing with the hotel they were at.  Dojima was right; between this and their trip to the beach, the poor kid really did look like he was wound up far too tight.  "Hey… you okay?"

Seito glanced over at him, letting out a faint noise.  "Y-yeah… I'm fine."

The kid was a crappy liar, and Adachi reached over to rest a hand on his shoulder.  Seito instantly flinched at the contact, and he removed his hand before he could make his discomfort any worse.  There was an awkward moment were they stood there, Seito refusing to meet his gaze as the detective stared.

"…you're not used to all the attention you've been getting, aren't you?"

Seito flinched again, glancing over at Adachi finally.

"I…" he began, before he fell quiet.  He shifted uncomfortably on his feet, like he was trying to find the right words to explain why he was so on edge, but he could not quite manage it.  Adachi smiled faintly; he was pretty sure he understood.

"Rise's a handful, isn't she?" he asked softly, getting a nod out of him.  "Kinda hard to deal with when your parents don't even give you that much attention."

Bingo; Seito stared at him like he had stung him, eyes wide in surprise.  After a long pause, he turned away, almost looking ashamed.

"…is that wrong?" he asked softly.

"In my opinion?  Yeah," Adachi replied.  "Hell, I'm still trying to figure out how to deal with people giving me attention after how my folks treated me."

He glanced at him again, hesitating.  "You… your parents weren't around too?"

"Kinda," he admitted gently.  "Took me this long to realize it wasn't my fault they were that way too."

Seito was silent, fidgeting with the hem of his shirt, and Adachi could feel that warm feeling in his chest like he usually got when he formed a bond with someone.  This was… a bit different, but he did not get a chance to dwell on it.  A weird, almost evil sounding laugh came from somewhere above them, and the kid jumped slightly, looking around with wide eyes.  Adachi's hand immediately went for his holster, flicking off the guard and ready to draw at a moment's notice, especially as that creepy laugh came again.

"So, I've found you…!" the voice exclaimed, and there was a loud _hup…_ followed a moment later by a _crash_ as something hit the garbage cans down a nearby alleyway.  Seito darted behind Adachi as he drew his gun, keeping it pointed toward the ground as whatever caused the crash came out and…

 _"Dammit,_ Teddie!"

He almost ate his tie as the familiar bear suit squeaked out into the moonlight, the bear looking extraordinarily proud of himself.  Teddie stopped just before Adachi as he holstered his weapon, bouncing back and forth on his feet happily.  Seito peered over the detective's shoulder, staring down at him.

"Adachi-san… you're friends with the Junes mascot…?" he asked softly.

"He's my idiot cousin," he replied, sticking with the same excuse Saki came up with as he reached over, popping Teddie's head off.  The blue-eyed blonde peered back up at him from his costume, still looking proud of himself.  "What do you think you're doing?  I told you to stay home and go to work with Saki!"

Teddie pouted back up at him in response.  "Boo!  That's no fun!  Saki-chan is busy studying all the time when she's not at work, and everyone else is here!  So I took off work and followed you!"

Adachi planted a hand over his face, letting out a groan.  "…do I want to know how you paid for the ticket?" he asked, having a feeling he knew the answer.  Thankfully, Teddie proved him wrong, puffing his cheeks out proudly.

"I paid for it all by myself!" he exclaimed.

Adachi cast his eyes up in a quiet thank you, and behind him he was treated to the sound of Seito chuckling.  He glanced over to the teen to see he was struggling so hard not to burst out laughing that he had tears in his eyes; putting up with how exasperated Teddie made him was worth it if he could see something that rare.  Unfortunately, the moment was not to last, as Kashiwagi came back, clearing her throat loudly to make her presence known.

"Is something wrong here?" she asked sweetly, though her eyes did not match that sweetness.  In fact, they were glaring daggers at Teddie, who clung to Adachi's midsection at the look, trying to hide behind him.

"Ah… sorry, ma'am," he began, his brain thinking quickly.  "My younger cousin followed me here; I guess he got scared of staying on his own.  I'll need to keep him with me while we're here.  He shouldn't be a bother."

If the death glare on her face was any clue, he may have won himself some peace just then.  After a moment, she gave a dismissive shrug, but Adachi could easily see her gripping the sleeves of her shirt tightly enough to tear the fabric.

"Oh, I understand," she replied stiffly, turning on her heel and leaving without further comment.  Adachi waited until he was sure she was out of hearing range, before he near deflated in relief.  He glanced down at Teddie the next moment, an urgent expression on his face.

"You're staying next to me no matter what, understand?"

Seito let out a snort as Teddie looked back up at him, adorably confused.

~.oOOo.~

His roommate was obnoxiously happy as he fidgeted with his bag, getting together his bathing supplies for the shower.  He asked him for the umpteenth time if he was sure it was okay for him to go first, and for the umpteenth time he waved him off, insisting that it was fine.  In reality, he wished the idiot puppet would hurry up and leave; he was grating on his nerves even more than usual lately, though he had a feeling it had to do with the fact that his work to "save" others "seemed" to have finally paid off, and the murders had stopped.

It felt like forever before he finally disappeared into the bathroom, and he laid out on the gaudy bed for a long moment, waiting in silence.  Finally, the hiss of water slipped out from under the door, and he allowed himself to move then, getting up and heading over to the TV in the room.

His heart started pounding as he reached out for the screen, feeling almost giddy with anticipation as his fingers got closer.  Unfortunately, instead of sinking into the smooth glass, his fingers pressed firmly against it, and he stood there in stone silence for a long moment, staring with wide eyes.  For a moment he was afraid that he lost that beautiful power, but no… no, it was just because they were nowhere near Inaba.  He knew it, and he could not do a damn thing about it.

A snarled curse escaped from him as his hand curled up into a fist, hitting the screen savagely, the dull thump he received doing very little to calm his nerves.

~.oOOo.~

"So, uh… why exactly are you staying in my room?"

Adachi had been staring off into space until Kanji spoke up, and he gave a start, blinking at the teen in surprise for a moment.  He had come to the room after doing his patrols, and did not realize he had ended up lost in his own thoughts for awhile.  He could hear a faint hiss coming from the bathroom: Teddie must have gone off for a shower.  A sheepish noise escaped from him as he flopped back in the chair he was sitting on.

"Kashiwagi 'forgot' to book a room for me."

Kanji leaned back in his seat on the bed, making a face.  "…that's gross, man."

"Tell me about it."

The hiss from the bathroom stopped while they were talking, and Teddie came out a few moments later in a bathrobe, toweling off his hair.  He let out a happy noise, jumping on the bed, only to nearly send Kanji flopping off of it.  The mattress sloshed loudly, and Adachi raised an eyebrow, not realizing they were waterbeds.  That just made the fact that Kashiwagi "forgot" to book his own room all the more disturbing, but he did not get the chance to think about it as Kanji started yelling.

"Dammit, bear!  Watch what you're doing!"

Teddie was not paying attention, instead going for a console embedded in the bed's headboard.  He started pressing buttons, and barely a moment later the headlamps overhead splashed color over the walls, and music started playing over speakers built into the bed.  The mattress started moving on its own after a moment, and Kanji let out a high-pitched yelp as he fell over, the mattress sloshing again.  Somehow he managed to push himself up as the bed continued to spin, looking like he was going to slug Teddie, but the bear started bouncing around on the mattress, plowing the bruiser teen over before he could get a chance to get a word out.

Adachi had to hide his grin behind a hand, sneaking his phone out to snap a quick picture before Kanji could recover.  That was a memory he wanted to keep _forever._


	31. Chapter Twenty-five – Full Circle

Adachi was mildly surprised to wake up in the limo, considering he was nowhere near Inaba at the moment.  He blinked at Michael sitting there, Igor absent once again, and his attendant opened up that massive book of his.  A card with a figure and an animal on floated out of the book, hovering before him as he started speaking.

"The Strength Arcana," Michael began.  "Strength comes in many different forms.  It can be a raging typhoon of power, or a quiet thing standing tall against all odds."

A touch of a smirk came to his face before he closed his book.  "Only one this time?  I'm surprised."

Adachi rolled his eyes, not even addressing his sarcasm.  "Yeah, but it felt weird," he admitted.  "I think I might need to work on it a bit more; I don't feel like I gained anything from it."

Michael paused at that, staring at him in confusion.  Adachi waved it off, shrugging slightly.

"It might even be because we're not in Inaba at the moment," he replied.  "I'm not too worried about it."

Michael did not look that convinced, but he let it drop.  "Where are you right now?"

"Iwatodai."

His attendant fell quiet, a strange look coming over his face.  He stared at him, waiting for him to do or say something, especially say something sarcastic, but it never came.  Finally, he noticed Michael had a death grip on his book, holding it so tight that his knuckles were white.  Adachi opened his mouth to say something, but he ended up closing it, having a feeling that saying something would not have helped him at the moment.

Finally, Michael closed the book and let it rest heavily on his lap, letting out a soft breath.

"You know… you've been progressing pretty fast," he began, flashing Adachi an amused look.  "Maybe I should give you some new responsibilities.  A quest maybe?"

"Uh…?"

A faint smirk worked its way onto his attendant's face.  "Don't look at me like that; I'm not going to request anything you couldn't do," he replied.  "If you have the time while you're in Iwatodai, go to the back alley in Paulownia Mall.  You'll see a blue door there that no one else can see.  Bring me to Iwatodai from this point, and show me around."

Michael paused, before shuffling around in his pocket.  He pulled out a tarnished silver key, adorned with the same mask design that was on the back of the Arcana cards.  It looked like it had been used often, being held in someone's bare hand more times than could be counted, and then left abandoned for years.

"You'll need the Contractor's Key to enter the Velvet Room while conscious," he explained, extending the key out to him.  "Normally you would have your own, but we did not want to interrupt your everyday life, given your occupation."

Adachi stared at him, his mouth working as accepted the old key, but he ended up saying nothing once again.  That was a weird request, and… it never occurred to him that people from his unconsciousness would have been able to enter the real world, nor that he would be able to enter the Room whenever he wanted to.  He reached up, scratching the side of his face, before he gave a shrug.

"Yeah… if I can get a chance, I'll go looking for that door," he agreed.

He was treated to the rare sight of a genuine smile before his unconsciousness faded away.

~.oOOo.~

As Adachi anticipated, most of the students had skipped out on the trip to the factories in the area, some of them abandoning their rooms long before he even woke up.  Kashiwagi was livid, for once not taking the opportunity to flirt with him and instead trying to gather up the ones that had not bailed on her.  He took that as his cue to go "look for" the missing students, grabbing Teddie and slipping away from the raging teacher.  Of course, he was actually going to keep an eye out for the ones that bailed – the Yasogami students would stick out easily enough from the rest of the city kids at least – but he was more concerned with _his_ group of kids over anyone else.

They were easy to spot, mostly due to the fact that Rise was practically dancing on her tip toes when she spotted them.  Teddie ran up to them first, bouncing happily back and forth between everyone, and Adachi could not help but notice that Seito seemed a little less tense after their talk last night.  He smiled faintly at that, before he had his attention drawn away.

"Adachi-san, you know this place really well too, right?" Rise asked.  "Are you going to come with us?"

He was within inches of agreeing, but he hesitated, glancing around.  They were close to Paulownia Mall… he could easily get to that back alley and pick up Michael…

"Hey, uh… there's something I want to take care of while I'm here," he began, feeling a little guilty at the disappointed look Rise responded with.  Still, he was insanely curious about seeing his attendant out in the real world.  "Don't worry, I'll catch up with you guys later, promise."

"Take it easy, man," Kanji said with a nod before Rise could complain.  Yukiko offered a wave as they turned, taking Teddie with them as they headed down the street.

A smile crept up on Adachi's face as he watched them head away, before turning toward the main part of the mall.  He rounded the fountain, passing by the station and into the back alley, all the while trying to ignore the nostalgia tugging at the back of his mind.

He stood in the entrance to the alley, not entirely sure what he was supposed to be looking out for when it came to a "blue door."  Nothing stood out as he glanced along the walls; it was just a normal alleyway that the surrounding businesses used to take out their garbage where customers could not see.  A faint noise escaped from him, and he headed further in, trying to get a better look.  As soon as he got to the end, there was a loud snap, and suddenly there was a glowing blue door in front of him.  He let out a yelp of surprise, and for a moment he stared at the door before he realized something was glowing in his pocket.  Digging around inside revealed the Contractor's Key he had gotten in his unconsciousness… and he had no idea how that had even gotten there, or why it was in his pocket.

"This crap just keeps getting weirder…" he muttered under his breath, reaching for the door.

As soon as Adachi's fingers brushed against it, he felt a rush pass through him, and suddenly he was sitting in the limo like he usually did in his dreams before now.  Igor was nowhere to be found, but Michael was in his usual place, and he looked up as soon as the blue settled all around Adachi.  His attendant's lips tugged up in a faint smirk, and he stood up, setting his heavy book down.

"Thanks for coming," he said, and Adachi stood up as well, at a complete loss as to how to understand this weirdness.  At this point he was not even going to try anymore, especially as Michael motioned for him to step forward, and suddenly they were back in the alleyway.

Michael stepped away from the blue door, going all the way to the end of the alley and standing within the entrance.  He was completely silent, and Adachi hesitantly shuffled forward, noticing that his attendant had a faraway look on his face as he watched the people flitting around, at the teens hanging around the arcade, and a few girls peering in at the accessory shop across the way.  Michael swallowed hard, and for a moment Adachi swore it looked like he was losing control of his emotions.  He rubbed at the back of his neck, feeling insanely awkward, and he finally cleared his throat after a moment.

"So, uh… there's this takoyaki place near the station," he began.  "It's pretty good; let's start there?"

Michael seemed to snap out of it then, letting out a faint snort.  "You know they don't use octopus, right?"

Adachi stared at him in mute surprise, but his attendant was already starting into the mall without him.  He let out a faint noise, following just behind him even though he was the one that was supposed to be showing Michael around.  His attendant seemed perfectly fine with finding his own way, like he had lived in Iwatodai for years, and he led them to the takoyaki place by the station.  He was happily munching away soon after, walking down the street with Adachi seemingly aimlessly, though it did not take long for the detective to realize that was not the case.

They stopped outside a tall building that was under construction, with a note outside that it would be an apartment complex soon.  Michael's expression did not change much, but he seemed disappointed that they would not have been able to go inside, and there was a faint hint of longing in his eyes.  Adachi did not get the chance to comment on it as he turned away, heading to the outskirts of the city now with the detective following just behind in silence.  They did not stop until they came to the shrine, and Michael had finished his plate by then, dropping the foam tray in the trash before heading for the play area.

Adachi stood just at the edge of it, watching his attendant as he walked around the play equipment, his fingers brushing along the jungle gym with something like fondness in his eyes.  He continued for a long moment, finally coming to a bench in the far corner of the shrine and staring down at it, like he was expecting someone to be sitting there, but they had left long ago.  Finally, he turned around so he could sit down, and Adachi approached him then, standing just in front of him.

"…so how long ago did you live here?"

Michael paused a moment, before glancing up at him.  He had a faint trace of a smile on his face, but there was a mischievous glint in his eyes that told Adachi he was not going to get much of an answer.

"I didn't live here, not exactly," he replied.  Adachi let out an annoyed grunt, the look on his face all but screaming he did not believe that for a second.  Michael just slipped his hands in his pockets, annoyingly calm as he leaned back on the bench, nodding next to him in a silent invitation.  The detective flopped down beside him, glancing over at him, half expecting him to stay silent.

He did for a long, drawn out moment, before he finally let out a sigh.  "…two years ago, I lived in an Iwatodai."

"'An'?" Adachi asked, receiving a nod, but Michael did not elaborate.  Instead, he glanced up toward the sky, like he could see something far above them that Adachi could not.

"…you know, it's kinda funny," he murmured faintly, "I know already how the Wild Card power works, and I was pretty determined not to get caught up in it when I was assigned to be your attendant.  But then you had to go and make such rapid progress, and actually be a bit likeable.  You're a jerk for that."

Adachi stared at him in disbelief, not sure if he was being complimented or insulted.

"I guess in the end, I feel a bit responsible for you," Michael continued, his gaze returning to earth again.  "Maybe things should have been different, but I think I like them this way."

Adachi frowned.  "I… don't understand a damn thing you just said."

Michael chuckled at that, and it was not like he imagined it would be.  It was such a sweet, honest noise: amusement that still had a faint hint of innocence clinging to the edges of it.

"I've said more than I should," he admitted.  "Please don't tell Igor; he'll remove me as your attendant.  The Velvet Room is to assist and guide its guests, but never directly interfere."

"Doesn't sound like all the attendants agree with that," Adachi pointed out, earning himself another chuckle.

"Not really," Michael admitted.  He hesitated a moment, before plowing on.  "My own… back then; she moved heaven and earth for me… literally.  I wish you could meet her."

There was a feeling of longing in his voice that made Adachi pause in concern.  He did not get the chance to dwell on it, as Michael swayed unsteadily in his seat, a hand going to his forehead.  He reached out for him, but his attendant waved him off.

"Sorry… I shouldn't be out in the real world for too long," he admitted softly.  "Could you help me back?"

Adachi helped him up then, sticking by his side as they made their way back to Paulownia Mall and into the Velvet Room.  He immediately looked better as soon as they stepped into the room, and Michael took his usual seat again, pulling his book onto his lap.  He was silent for a moment, but he looked genuinely happy, and Adachi had a feeling it had been quite a long time since that had happened.

"…thank you for today," he finally began, opening his book.  The Magician card floated out of it, and Michael snapped it up, looking far too amused.  "You haven't quite earned this bond yet, but I don't mind giving it to you early.  Sometimes a premature reward is worth the results that follow."

A faint smile came to Adachi's face as the blue faded away, and he found himself face to face with the blank wall of the back alley of the mall.  He pressed a hand to his chest, the warmth lingering from the bond that he started, before he turned away, starting for the main area of the mall.

"There you are!"

He stopped so fast at the familiar shriek that he was fairly certain he left skid marks on the cobblestones.  His arm was latched onto in the next moment, and Kashiwagi tugged him hard, forcing him to look down at her and the positively irate expression on her face.  A feeling of doom settled over him; Teddie had left with the others, and he had no one else around to protect him.  He was screwed, maybe even literally.

"Where have you been?" she demanded, tugging him along sharply.  Her harassment did not go unnoticed, but most that glanced in their direction just assumed that it was a lover's spat.  Adachi wanted to scream for help, but her insistent tugging had him more focused on keeping his footing than trying to get away from her.

"I-I was looking out for missing kids!" he stammered out, never mind it was not true.

"For this long?" she demanded.  "You're supposed to be protecting me!"

"B-but the kids…" he mumbled in a vain attempt to defend himself, privately wishing he could say what was on his mind at that moment.  No way anyone would want to touch this woman willingly, but he was fairly sure actually saying that would get him reprimanded later, never mind what Kashiwagi would do to him.

His protests, as usual, went ignored, and she dragged him away from the mall.  It did not keep Adachi from glancing around furtively, hoping to catch sight of Rise or Kanji or _anyone_ from Yasogami, but there was not a familiar face to be found.  The mall faded away from sight as he endured being dragged down familiar streets, and it did not take him very long to figure out where they were going.  He had only been to the dive by the movie theater at the station a few times, mostly because of disturbance calls, though he had stopped by for a drink once or twice.  He was not entirely surprised Kashiwagi would drag him there; it was nice and dark inside, the perfect place to get away with things you could not normally do otherwise.

Adachi felt his stomach bottom out at the thought, silently praying for someone to save him.

~.oOOo.~

Rise paused as they started back for Paulownia Mall, glancing behind her.  They had all enjoyed their time out by themselves in the city, mostly going shopping and browsing around the sights that were actually interesting, and now it was time for her to make due on that promise of a good time from the morning.  Still, in the entire time they were out, they had not seen Adachi, but… she could have sworn she heard him pleading for help just then…

"Rise-chan, is this it?"

Yukiko's question snapped her back to the others, and she let out a happy sound as she saw they were just outside Club Escapade.  She let go of Seito's arm, practically bouncing to the front of their little group before striking a dramatic pose.

"Okay, everyone!" she exclaimed.  "You'll like this place, I promise! And they owe me one!"

A collective look of curiosity went through their group, and Rise could not help but giggle.

"I was supposed to do a secret concert here, but the power went out," she explained.  "I should be able to get us a VIP room."

She darted inside, the others following close behind.  They hung around on the floor as Rise darted to the back, watching the other patrons dancing it out to an almost overwhelmingly loud beat.  It was not long before the former idol came back, with who could only be the club owner just behind her.  The man led them upstairs to a private room overlooking the whole club, and waitresses followed in soon after, platters loaded with different colored drinks for them.

"Woooo, is this what special treatment looks like?!" Teddie exclaimed brightly, snatching up one of the drinks almost immediately.

Naoto was glancing around, uneasy about the atmosphere.  "Are high school students even permitted in a place like this?"

Kanji glanced down at her, noticing the lighting made it look like she had a faint blush on her face.  With that and the shy look on her face, it seemed like he was going to pass out from the sudden rush on blood to his face.

"I-I-I'm sure it's fine… w-w-we wouldn't've been able to get this room if it wasn't," he muttered, looking away from her before his stammering got worse.  It did not keep Rise from giggling at him, and he almost flung one of the juice cups at her in annoyance.

Teddie was well on to his fifth cup of juice by that time, chucking them back like they were candy.  He swayed happily in his seat, reaching over to poke at Kanji's arm.

"Your sho red, Kanji~!" he teased.  "I… Kanj-eture that somethin's up!"

He nearly fell over laughing at his own joke, while Yukiko next to him was struggling not to burst out laughing.  She had a cup in hand that was half empty, another empty one in the other hand, and the cup that still had juice in it nearly spilled as she erupted into a giggle fit.

"Hey… what's up with these two…?" Kanji asked, staring at Yukiko as her and Teddie leaned against each other laughing.

Seito had been just about to drink from the glass he grabbed, but instead found himself staring at it uneasily.

"Are these alcoholic…?" he asked.

Rise let out a whine next to him, completely red in the face.  "I-I told 'em to give us soft drinks!  I swear I did!" she wailed.  Seito and Kanji exchanged glances, before quickly setting their glasses down as Naoto pulled her cap over her eyes in embarrassment.

"That's weird though… it doesn't smell like—"

Kanji did not get a chance to finish, as Rise suddenly shot up from her seat, freaking Seito out as she stabbed a finger in the air.

**_"KING'S GAAAAAAAAAME!!!"_ **

Silence hung over the group for a long, drawn out moment.

"Th' heck is that?" Kanji finally asked.

Yukiko let out a giggle, finished with her previous drink and well into a fourth.  "So… one chopstick makes you the King if you draw it, and th' others have numers on them," she began, already starting to slur her words.  "Th' King picks a numer, and says what tha person hasstdo.  But who 'as what numer is a secret until th' King gives th' orders!"

Rise giggled happily.  "Wow, senpai, you're so adult!" she exclaimed, before suddenly pointing a dramatic finger at Kanji.  _"Kanji!_ Get the chopsticks ready!"

"Wha—why me?!"

Rise did not stop prodding at him until what she was demanded was done, and by then Kanji looked especially disgruntled.  Naoto glanced over at him, a faint tug of a smile appearing on her face, but it disappeared quickly as the former idol held the chopsticks up high, insisting that everyone take one.  They did, with varying degrees of excitement and reluctance.

"Okaaaaaay, who's the Kiiiing?" Rise asked in a sing-song voice.

"Teddie's stick is red!  Teddie is king!" the bear exclaimed, bouncing out of his seat.

Kanji made a face.  "W-we're doomed already…" he muttered as Seito scooted away from Rise.

Teddie let out a humming noise, looking at the five others with great interest.

"Mm… the King wants a big smoooooch… from number three!"

_"GAH!"_

Kanji near shot out of his seat, looking like he was going to bolt out of the room.  Teddie paused, staring at the big teen for a moment, before he looked away, a sheepish look on his face.

"…number two then."

"No take backs," Seito replied, scooting further away from the chaos.

Kanji looked at him like he was being betrayed as Teddie shuffled closer to him, looking up at him with stars in his eyes.  The teen let out a yelp, trying to back away, but Teddie just came at him.

"Oh Kanji… I knew you were after my fur," he crooned.  "Please be gentle; it's my first time!"

"Wha—?!"

Teddie pounced in that moment, knocking him over.  Rise let out a snicker at that, grabbing another drink and throwing it back.

"Phewww!  Two out already!"

"T-that's the kind of game this is…?" Seito muttered as Rise sloppily gathered up the chopsticks.  She held them out to him, that blush on her face going brighter.

"But Seito-kun… wouldn't you want the chance to order me around?" she asked, and Seito had to hide his face behind a hand as he blindly chose a chopstick, never mind that it was easy to see his ears turning bright red.

With Teddie finally off Kanji after getting his "smooch" (which was really on the back of Kanji's fist), the rest of the chopsticks were picked out.  An uneasy feeling of tension was shot through the room, as the three sober ones were not really in the mood to continue the insanity, while the three drunks kept pounding the "juice".

"Who is it?  Who's the Kiiiiing?" Rise wailed.

Seito let out an awkward noise, his face still a healthy shade of red to go along with the tip of the stick he held up.

"I-I am…" he murmured, glancing to the other two sober ones.  "I'll try to make it reasonable."

"That's not how it goes~" Yukiko said in a sing song voice, pausing to knock another one back.  "Mm… you need to make it better tha' th' last one.  If th' previous King asked for a smooch, th' next one needs ta do somethin' more _extreme."_

Rise turned toward Seito, giving him an expectant look that made him shrink back.  He looked frantically between Kanji and Naoto, as if begging them for something that would avoid too much trouble, but neither of them could offer anything.  Finally, he swallowed, his voice trembling when he spoke next.

"T-then… n-number two can sit on m-my lap?"

Rise let out a disappointed noise, just as Naoto looked like she wanted to sink into the massive couch and disappear.  All eyes turned to her, and she reluctantly showed that her chopstick indeed had a number "2" written in Kanji's neat handwriting.  His eyes went wide, before they immediately snapped over to Seito, silently promising a painful death.

"Th' King's order is…!" Yukiko began, and Rise looked a bit upset that it was not her number chosen, but she shrugged and threw her hands up anyway.

_"Absoloo!"_

Naoto let out what may well have been a terrified noise, looking between Rise, Kanji, and the cowering Seito.  Finally, she pulled her hat low over her eyes and stood up, practically marching over to where the elder teen was sitting.  For a moment, she just stood there, staring down at him and making him shrink back farther in his seat than Kanji's glaring could ever make him, before she finally turned around and sat stiffly on his lap.  Kanji was practically blowing steam out of his nose at that point, but he did nothing as Naoto remained seated for a moment, before quickly shooting up like nothing had happened.

"Booo!  Naoto-kun, tha's not how you do it!" Rise exclaimed, but Naoto did not even look back to see the former idol fling herself onto her boyfriend's lap.

She instead retreated back over to sit by Kanji, not even looking up at him as she shook.  He stared down at her for a long moment, taking in the fact that it looked like she was trying to make herself smaller than she was, before he hesitantly reached over to her, resting a big hand on her shoulder.  Naoto paused at that, finally glancing up at Kanji, a faint blush coming to her face as she slowly started to calm down.  He was a heavy shade of pink himself, but still did not let go of her until she had stopped shaking.

"We should really get these three back to the hotel before this gets any worse," Naoto said finally, reaching up to adjust her hat.  Seito looked up, trying to see around Rise, who was clinging to him so hard it looked like she was trying to merge the two of them.

"I-is it safe to move them while they're this drunk?" he squeaked, trying very hard to detach his girlfriend.

Naoto let out a sigh.  "They're not drunk," she explained.  "As Kanji noted earlier, the smell of alcohol is absent from these drinks.  Also, no bars in this area have been serving alcohol in protest to a string of drunk driving incidents last year."

Seito stared, before near jumping out of his skin as Yukiko wobbled on her seat, falling toward him and passing out on his shoulder.  Rise let out a faint noise, snuggling close to him, before doing the same.  Seito may well have been trying to match a tomato in terms of redness, he was blushing so hard at all the attention.

"T-then what are they drunk on?" he asked.

"The atmosphere, I suppose," Naoto replied blandly as Teddie wobbled, before flopping over onto Kanji's lap.

~.oOOo.~

"Another!"

Adachi cringed as Kashiwagi flung her arm out, nearly smacking him in the forehead as she waved the glass around.  The bartender managed to grab it before she broke it, giving her an annoyed glance before filling it again.  She grabbed it up as soon as it was within her grasp, already starting to chug it down.  Meanwhile, Adachi was still on his first glass, and he looked down at it, almost like he expected it to rise up and devour him.

Amazing how this woman could even turn him off drinking.

She managed to get halfway through her glass, before she looped an arm around his, gazing up at him with bedroom eyes that made his stomach twist in a knot.

"Mm… you're not drinking enough," she purred at him.  "That's not how this is supposed to go…"

_Help!_

"I-isn't this a little inappropriate?" Adachi fumbled, trying to get away from her.  "Besides, I'm half your age."

That was obviously the _wrong_ thing to say, and the look of seething rage Kashiwagi gave him made him want to stuff his tie in his mouth.  Adachi shrunk back as her nails dug into his arm, and he tried to shake her off, but it was like trying to pry his arm out of a vice with his bare hands.

"You…!" she hissed.  "You men are all the same!  You should be grateful a woman of my maturity is paying attention to you!"

Adachi let out a hollow laugh at that; a lesser man probably would have gone for that… hell, he had been that lesser man a few months ago, but he would not have seen it as something to be grateful for.  More like he would have been taking advantage of her, and the thought of what he would have done was what brought a sour grimace to his face.  He finally managed to pry her hand off, pushing it away as he gave her a hard look.

"I'd rather have the attention of a woman that respects herself more than this," he snapped, tossing down the money for his unfinished drink, before storming out.

He was halfway back to the inn before he realized that he was probably a lot harsher than he really should have been, and Adachi paused in the middle of the street, running a hand over his face as he debated if he should go back for her or not.  Just as he was about to go back and do that, if only to make sure she got back to the inn safe, a loud, familiar drunken laughter made him cringe.

"Heeeeeeey~!  It's Adachey-baby!" Teddie exclaimed, swinging from around Naoto's neck.  The bitty detective struggled to keep a hand on the drunken bear, nearly dropping him entirely.

"A-Adachey-baby…!" Yukiko sputtered drunkenly, bursting out into a fit of giggles from where she was draped over Kanji's big shoulders.  The teen groaned, looking like he had been subject to far too much of the elder teen's hyena laughter.  Lucky for Adachi, he was spared any comments from Rise, as it looked like she was just barely keeping on her feet, Seito struggling to support her without grabbing anything inappropriate.

Adachi stared at the six of them for a long moment, before letting out an exasperated groan, pinching the bridge of his nose.  He just… did not want to know.  He did not want to know at all.

~.oOOo.~

The next morning had Adachi's group of teens divided between being cross with each other and being extremely embarrassed to the point of not wanting to talk.  Rise managed to somehow still be chipper, though he did spot her apologizing profusely to Seito when she thought no one was looking, and it was hard to miss how genuinely sorry she was for her apparently terrible behavior.  It had Adachi curious, but considering what happened when he ran into them last night and how Naoto was sticking close to Kanji and refusing to speak to the others, he could guess.

Finally, the tension was getting too ridiculous, and he suggested they all go to the local ramen place before leaving for the day.  It did not take much to convince teenagers to go out for food, and they were all packed into the small place before long.  Adachi let out a happy sigh once his bowl arrived, missing the food at this place more than anything else, and he happily dug in as the cloud of gloom hovering over their group slowly started to dissipate.

"Do you… remember what happened last night?" he caught Yukiko asking Rise softly.  Rise bit her lip, flushing.

"Well… apparently we got really wild," she murmured back.  "I don't really remember, just… that I came onto Seito-kun really hard."

Yukiko gave her a worried glance, but Rise smiled and blushed, fidgeting on her seat before turning back to her meal.  A faint smile worked its way onto Adachi's face as he shook his head, and Yukiko pressed a hand to hers.

"Ugh… I still have a headache…" she murmured, grabbing up her chopsticks to poke at her ramen, but the bowl was not where it was supposed to be.  She stared down at the empty spot, like she was trying to make sure she had actually ordered, before glancing to her immediate left, and the big mass of red and blue that was Teddie in his costume, practically inhaling her ramen.

"Hey, that was mine!" she exclaimed.

"But you were finished with it," Teddie replied in a low voice.

"I was not!"

Adachi frowned, prodding the bear with his chopsticks.  "Hey, how many of those things have you eaten?"

"Uhh… ten?"

 _"TEN?!"_ he bellowed.  "You better have the money to pay for those!"

Teddie froze at that, all the color draining out of his fuzzy face.  "O-oh no!  I don't have money for my ticket back!"

Yukiko stood up, shooting a glare to the bear.  "Let's leave him."

Naoto glanced at her watch, her tone as frigid as the glare Yukiko was giving him.  "It is close to our departure time.  We should leave anyway."

Everyone stood, moving to leave, and the teens actually managed to get out of the store.  Teddie wailed as Adachi attempted to make his escape, clinging to his waist, begging and pleading and generally making such a massive scene that eventually he had no choice but to give in and pay for his ridiculous meal.  He dragged him out by a fluffy ear after that, tolerating his yelping and whining and feeling like a parent dealing with a disobedient child.

He dragged Teddie all the way to the bus depot, letting him go off with the rest of their group finally before he allowed himself a faint sigh of relief.

"…detective?"

A chill shot up Adachi's spine, and he was ready for the yelling to start when he turned around.  Instead of the rampaging tower of hormones that Kashiwagi had been so far this trip, he saw a woman that had been taken down several pegs.  She had cleaned herself up that morning, but clearly she had spent most of her last night in Iwatodai crying.  He paused at that, staring at her in surprise as he waited for her to say something.

"I…" she started, biting her lip as she hugged her arms to her chest.  "You were right, you know…  I had a boyfriend for several years, I thought for certain he would ask me to marry him someday… but then he went off with a younger, prettier woman.  I lost respect in men after that, but I think I lost respect for myself more."

Adachi remained respectfully quiet, but he did notice that she had actually buttoned her shirt up almost all the way.

"So…" she began, before brightening slightly, offering him a wink.  "I suppose I will need to find some of that respect before I try flirting with you again."

Adachi let out a nervous laugh as she went to corral the students, but he did not miss the warm feeling in his chest again.


	32. Interlude

"So how was it, being back in the city?"

I was enjoying the comfort of my own bed, despite the fact that Teddie was curled up asleep on my lap, when Saki called.  Though I answered it, my focus was mostly on the turned off television in the room as the steady hiss of rain came from outside.  It had been awhile since I had seen something on the Midnight Channel… and maybe it was detective's cynicism, but I didn't think anyone as impulsive as the murderer had shown himself to be could go this long without a "fix" and still stay sane.

"About what I expected," I answered, absently patting Teddie's head as he mumbled in his sleep.  "Honestly though?  I was glad when we got back here."

Saki giggled over the phone.  "Careful, you're going to start sounding like a country boy soon."

"Fat chance of that happening."

She laughed again as the clock snapped over to midnight, and the television came on by itself right on cue.  I frowned at the unclear image of someone standing there, but beyond a darkly colored blob, I couldn't make much else out.

"Hey, Saki…"

"The Midnight Channel?" she asked, her tone serious.  "It rained here the night you guys left, and that image appeared then too.  Not sure who it is."

I frowned at the screen as it snapped off; it was really hard to make out, but I swore I had seen that silhouette before…

"Hey, Adachi…" Saki began, drawing my attention back to the phone.  "Why don't we go in the TV tomorrow?  We haven't been in since you were injured; we could all use the training."

I paused at that, frowning.  Why did I suddenly get a bad feeling?  Training was good, right…?

"Yeah, sure."


	33. Chapter Twenty-six – Investigation Restart!

"What's that song from?"

Michael looked up from his book in surprise at the question.  He had been about to open it, about to explain to Adachi the significance of the Moon Arcana when he asked that question.  Instead, he paused, tilting his head curiously, as if he were thinking about it for the first time.  Like the last few times, Igor was not present, and his attendant did not seem to mind being a little lax with the rules after their trip through Iwatodai.

"I don't know myself," he replied.  "It was always playing when I came to this Room as well, but I never saw who sang it.  It could be…  Both attendants and guests come and go from this room as needed.  Perhaps whoever sang that song had emotions so strong that the song lingered, even after they no longer needed the Velvet Room."

"Hunh," Adachi replied, and he was quiet again for a long moment, so long that Michael was about to open his book again when he spoke up, "I bet she was hot."

Michael snorted back a laugh, and for a moment it looked like he was remembering other times with other friends, before he shook his head.

"You're distracting me, you know," he said, though his tone was not nearly as harsh as it could have been.  Adachi grinned at that, enjoying seeing him a bit more relaxed, before he waved his hand in a silent promise that he would be quiet.  Michael smiled faintly, finally opening his book and letting the Moon Arcana float out from it.  "The Moon; an Arcana of many things, though I have mostly seen it in those who are lost in their own delusions of themselves.  The outward mask they show is an illusion, hiding the fear they hold within their subconscious."

The card retreated back into the book as Michael closed it, and he turned slightly, giving Adachi a thoughtful look.

"You're going back into the TV, aren't you?" he asked curiously.  "Are you sure you're prepared for that?"

"We're just training; what's the worst that could go wrong?" Adachi replied, a faint grin coming to his face.  "'Sides, I've had a pain in the ass teacher so far.  I need some independent study."

Michael snorted.  "Either that, or a harder hit to the head," he replied, before sending Adachi back on his way to the conscious world.

He allowed a moment to pass, a moment for him to calm down, but he still could not shake the feeling of unease in the pit of his stomach.  Setting the Compendium down on Igor's divination table, he flipped it open, focusing on what he wanted to know and letting the book do the rest of the work.  He was still new at this, and he knew it would be some time before he was as good at it as his former attendant's sister, but even still, the answer he received made his eyes go wide in surprise.

"…this is my fault too, isn't it?"

~.oOOo.~

 _"This_ is where you wanted to train?!"

Adachi stared past Saki in disbelief, up at the massive court house that led to the spot where he confronted his Shadow months ago.  An unsettled feeling squirmed into the pit of his stomach, and he could feel his insides literally flopping around in protest.  For a moment, Saki looked like she wanted to snap at him, but she let out a sigh instead, understanding how he felt about going back to this place.

"Honestly, it was either this, or Naoto's laboratory," she explained as Naoto pulled her hat low over her eyes.  "But the Shadows there are too easy for us now, and no one really wants to go back to the castle, bath house, or striptease again."

Adachi let out a sigh, mostly because he could not argue with that logic.  He was not exactly keen on going back and seeing the bath house or the striptease either, and even for someone that had not been in the TV for training like him, he was pretty sure the castle or the laboratory would not give him that much of a challenge.  He reached up to adjust his glasses, before giving a faint nod; no need to delay the inevitable.

He took point as they headed inside, with Saki just behind him and the others fanning out with Rise and Yukiko in the back to provide support.  The inside was just as he remembered, with bleeding walls steadily getting worse the further they progressed.  The Shadows were just as difficult as he remembered as well, and more than once they found themselves ambushed by the annoying cross-shaped scales that would buffet them with two opposing elements.  Adachi tried to think as they fended off ones that kept using fire and ice on them; if they were using opposing elements, then were they weak to the ones they were not using…?

_"Izanagi!"_

His Persona came to him at his call, lightning lashing out and knocking the scales to the ground.  Adachi let out a triumphant noise, thumbing his nose.

"Guys!  Hit those things with whatever element they're not using!"

A look of confusion passed through the group, but of course it was Kanji that leapt right in, calling on his massive Persona to have lightning come crashing down on the fallen enemies.  Magic did not seem to be Take-Mikazuchi's strong point, but considering they were already down, it seemed to be enough.

"Hey… that actually worked?" Kanji replied, looking completely and utterly surprised.  Naoto crossed her arms over her chest, a thoughtful hand going to her chin.

"So these creatures do have notable weaknesses against certain elements…" she murmured.  "I noticed them reacting aversely on occasion to certain attacks, but not that much."

"Wait…" Saki began, glancing over to Adachi.  "Didn't that dragon fall over when I hit it with Tsunade's wind?"

"Dragon?" Yukiko asked curiously.

Adachi tried not to let out an awkward noise.  "Ah… just one of the Shadows we faced on our way to you," he explained sheepishly.  "And yeah, it did.  Guess we shoulda figured that out sooner, hunh?"

"Well, if _someone_ had been paying attention…" Saki shot back, though her tone was more teasing than accusing.  Adachi scrunched his face up, and he was about to be the perfectly mature and responsible adult that he was and stick his tongue out at her, when he caught something shifting against the wall over her shoulder.  He frowned, doing a double take, but whatever it was had already moved on.  She frowned at his lack of response, turning to follow his gaze.

"What is it?"

"Not sure…" he muttered, moving to take point again.

They proceeded deeper into the courthouse, beating down Shadows at every turn.  Now that they all understood how their weaknesses worked, their group was having a much easier time of dealing with them, especially with Rise serving as back up.  Her attacks were not centered around any one element and were not very strong, but they _could_ stun Shadows, as well as give their Personae boosts to their attack power.

Of course, the Shadows had to step it up as well, and within the next few levels, they were squaring off against massive stone golems and stone arms wielding huge swords.  One of the arms went immediately after Naoto once it showed up, and Kanji shot between the two of them, using his folding chair as a shield.  It was such a flimsy weapon that it bent easily under the attack, nearly biting into the bruiser teen's shoulder.  He let out a loud shout of pain, using it as fuel to push back against the Shadow.  Naoto shuffled back, calling on Sukuna-Hikona to zip around, bringing on darkness to rise up and surround the arm, blinking it out of existence.

"Kanji-kun!  Are you all right?" Yukiko asked, calling on her own Persona to help heal him.  He let out a grunt, working his shoulder around and muttering that he was fine.

"Maybe you should get an actual weapon from Daidara?" Rise suggested, peering over at him like he was going to fall over any second.

"With what money?" he grumbled.  "I can't afford his stuff."

"Maybe Adachey-baby can get it for you~!" Teddie exclaimed in a sing song voice.

Adachi felt something snap at the edge of his mind.  _"What did I say about calling me that?!"_ he demanded as Yukiko started giggling hysterically.  He ignored her, reaching over to grab the bear by the ears.  "And why are you wearing this thing inside the TV?  Isn't it easier to move around when you're not short and squat?"

"How grizzly!  I'm not squat!" Teddie exclaimed, flailing his short arms.  "And I'm comfortable like this!"

"More like you're unbearable like this!"  Adachi exclaimed.  He paused a moment… before he tugged on Teddie's ears harder.  _"Dammit, Ted!_ Now you've got me doing it!"

Yukiko looked like she was going to faint if she did not stop laughing long enough to breathe, and Naoto let out a tired sigh, pulling her hat low over her eyes.  She glanced to the side, like she was trying to escape the display of idiocy before her, when she suddenly tensed and let go of her hat, pointing her gun down a nearby hallway.  Everything behind her fell silent, and Adachi immediately let go of Teddie.

"What is it?" he asked softly.

"I thought I saw something move against the wall," she replied, edging forward with her gun at the ready.  The others fell in behind her shortly after, with Kanji holding back a bit since his weapon was busted.

They came around the bend in the hall to a wide open area, where some of the golems were waiting for them.  Saki reacted immediately, using Tsunade to blow them away while Take-Mikazuchi pounded down on them with his thunder bolt bludgeon.  The speakers from Himiko came around, blasting the golems and making them shake, while Naoto's tiny Persona lashed out, striking them down.  Adachi, meanwhile, hung back, his eyes flicking back and forth, looking for some sign of the strange movement he had seen before.  He caught sight of it just as the last golem fell: something dark in the shape of a human, darting down the far hallway.

He gripped his sword tighter in hand, shooting around the vanishing bodies of the golems and zipping down the hallway after the dark figure.  Whatever it was seemed to realize it most definitely had a pursuer now, because it started moving faster, and Adachi heard the distinct sound of shoes slapping on the carpeted ground ahead, squishing loudly against blood soaked areas.  Was whatever it was human then?

Was this their murderer?

He could hear the others pounding down the hall behind him, but he did not pause to shout his suspicions back at them.  They had to have gotten the hint about how important it was, considering they were catching up to him pretty quickly.

The dark figure shot up the stairs with their group in hot pursuit, and Adachi ended up skidding to a stop as soon as they came to the top stair.  It was back in the same place where everything happened; where Namatame's Shadow had been, where Seiki died again, where his own Shadow appeared.  The moon was bright yellow and hanging low over the twisted police precinct, and it almost seemed like the sky above had a green tint to it that was not there before.  The dark figure had stopped just before them, standing with their back to them.  It was hard to tell just who they were, other than the fact that they were a teenager; possibly a girl considering the short skirt they were wearing, and it seemed like their hair was up in a ponytail.

Naoto came up alongside Adachi, her gun pointed at their shadowy suspect.

"Freeze!" she shouted at him.  "Keep your hands where we can see them!"

The figure did not respond, and Adachi frowned, feeling uneasy.  Something did not seem right… was this thing even a person?

The figure suddenly spun around, making them take a collective step back.  They were completely dark except for their glowing white eyes, very much like a living, conscious Shadow; but they could still see the lines of clothes and some details of the face…

The figure raised her hand, one going to her chest while the other lifted up further, revealing she was holding a gun.  Instead of pointing it at them, however, she pointed it straight at her own head.

"Wait, _no!"_

Naoto was about to lunge forward, but Adachi grabbed her just as the Shadow pulled the trigger on herself.  Instead of blowing her own brains out, there was the familiar sound of shattering glass, spreading out from the other side of her head.  A burst of red came out from around the figure, and an equally dark shape came into being behind them.  It was humanoid, much in the same way their Personae were, and swinging around a massively huge harp.

"Is that…?!" Rise began, taking a step back.

Adachi stared, dimly aware of Naoto's hand on his arm, holding onto him tight.  That was definitely a Persona all right, but what kind of crazy asshole would risk pointing a gun to their own head just to summon one?!

It was not like the Shadow was going to let them ask, either; in the next moment, that strange Persona was strumming its harp, sending blasts of fire spraying out at them.  Adachi held onto Naoto and covered his head as the rest of their group scattered.  He let go of her once they were clear of the flames, leaving her to collect herself as he called on Izanagi to strike out against the shadowy Persona.  It blocked his blade with its harp, sending out a spray of sparks as Izanagi struggled to push it off balance.

"Teddie!  Hit it with ice!"

_"Roger!"_

Kintoki Douji rolled itself into existence at Teddie's command, lifting its stubby arms and sending blocks of ice crushing down on the Shadow.  She let out a startled noise, before lifting the gun and firing it again.  The harp wielding Persona faded away in red, replaced with another humanoid creature.  This one had long, thin legs and arms and a small, squat head pressed close to its shoulders.  It let out an inhuman cry, sending a blast of lightning out that ripped right through Kintoki Douji.

Teddie whimpered in pain as Saki tried retaliating with wind, only to be blasted back with lightning as well.  Kanji looked like he was going to charge forward with Take-Mikazuchi, but Adachi held his arm out, keeping him from charging forward.

"What the hell, man!?" he demanded, but his eyes were on the Shadow as she lowered her gun, reaching out with her other hand and beckoning Adachi forward.  Kanji looked back and forth between him and the Shadow, before letting out a disgruntled noise.  "Don't do it."

"Adachi-san, this could be a trap," Naoto warned, moving to stand in front of him, but he waved her off, his eyes still on the shadowy young woman.  He hesitated a moment more, but she still was not attacking them, waiting for him to decide if he wanted to confront her directly or not.

"Tatsumi, look after the others," Adachi said finally, getting a frustrated noise out of the big teen as he stepped forward.  Naoto let out a noise of protest herself, but Kanji reached over to pull her back to where Rise was standing.  The former idol looked nervously between the other teens and Adachi, biting her lip.

"Be careful, Adachi-san!" she called out to him.  "Whatever that thing is, it's not like a normal Shadow!"

Adachi gave a faint nod in acknowledgement, his eyes never leaving the Shadow before him.  She seemed to be smiling at the fact that he accepted her challenge, though he was not entirely sure if it was a malicious smile or not.  Silence hung between the two of them as he waited, watching for her to make the first move, and when she finally took it, the Persona she already had out surged forward, lightning blazing around Adachi.  He flinched as he reached out, letting instinct take over.

_"Jack Frost!"_

A cute little creature appeared, like two mounds of snow rolled together with arms, legs, and a jester's hat.  He could hear Kanji let out a smitten noise, but he ignored it, instead paying attention to the spears of ice his Persona was launching at the strange, shadowy one.  The Shadow let out a cry as hers was hit, reaching up to fire that gun at her head again.  The next one in her arsenal was humanoid again, with an angular head and a set of metal lattice work fans connecting its arms and legs, making it look more like a fighter jet.  It shot out, surrounding Adachi and leaving a trail of fire in its wake, but he was already reaching out to switch Persona.

White Rider stood before him, guarding him from the flames as it notched an arrow, tracking the fast moving Shadow.  It finally let the arrow fly, catching the jet-like creature in its fans and pinning it to the ground.

_"Seth!"_

The Rider faded back into his unconscious, giving way to a dark dragon with a wingspan that nearly took up the entire room.  With one strong beat of its wings, the wind it kicked up not only knocked the other Persona loose, but also sent it spiraling against the far wall, swatting it away like an insect.  The Shadow let out an annoyed noise, glowing white eyes narrowing, before she shot her gun off again.  This time, what was called was like a graceful dancer, ready to fight with rapier in hand.  It struck out, lashing through one of Seth's wings and making Adachi take a step back, clutching at his shoulder.

_"Mara!"_

The dragon vanished, and… he really did not know what to expect from something with a name like "Mara", but… flames came up around Adachi again, though this time it was his own doing.  A chariot rode out of the flames and… that certainly was a green, phallic creature with writhing tentacles squirming out from the back.  Rise let out the most _disgusted_ noise imaginable, as Saki just outright started laughing, and Adachi swore he heard something along the lines of, "compensation," between her giggles.  He let out an awkward noise, privately marking this one as a Persona he was _never_ going to summon ever again, even as the mouth at the head of the phallic monster opened wide, drowning the dancing shadow in a curtain of flames.  It let out a pained cry, fading back again.

The Shadow let out a scream of frustration, pulling the trigger and calling out some kind of kid's robot-like creature, with an ever spinning wheel making up its midsection.  Its whole body spun around, lighting up the ground underneath Mara, blasting it with light from all sides.  Adachi let out a pained noise, a hand going to his chest as he fell to one knee.

"Adachi-san!"

"Sensei!"

Adachi waved them off again, letting out a pained breath as he wobbled back up to his feet, stumbling backward, but somehow managing to keep his footing.  The Shadow waited for him to get back up, the creepy robot grinning down at him as he forced himself to breathe through the pain.  He glared up at it as he reached out, calling back the White Rider to return that blast of light with a shot of darkness.  The Shadow clawed at her chest as the toy disappeared, the sound escaping from her mouth almost sounding inhuman, and it took a moment for Adachi to actually piece together that she was saying something.

 _"Why…?"_ she asked.  _"Why?"_

Her gun went off again, and a humanoid creature chained down to what looked like a hover chair out of a science fiction story appeared, buffeting the Rider with wind gusts.  Adachi threw an arm over his face until the winds died down, before reaching out for another card.  A baboon with an Egyptian crown appeared at his command, holding a book in his lap.  He stood up, holding his book up and bringing lightning crashing down on the chair and the Persona on it, drawing out a cry of pain from the Shadow.  She dropped her gun, stumbling back as she pressed her hands against her head.

 _"Why…?!"_ she screeched, clawing at the sides of her head.  _"WHY WAS I FORGOTTEN!?"_

Something seemed to burst out of her back, raising a sword up in the air in triumph as a weird cape fanned out behind it, and it took Adachi a moment to realize the cape was _made of coffins._   He took a step back as the Persona pulled itself into existence, the Shadow falling to her knees as it hovered behind her, hunched over like the coffins were too heavy for it to hold itself upright. The others were at his side in the next moment, and he snapped his head back and forth, mouth opened to protest.  He could handle this, no matter how freaky and crazy this got; they did not need to put themselves on the line against something like this!

"Hey, don't even think of telling us to back off," Kanji said before he could get a word out.  "Yeah, maybe you can handle that thing on your own, but you got us right here."

Adachi let out a faint noise at that, glancing back at each of them.  Saki looked pretty damn hurt from the hit she took, and Teddie's fur was sticking up at odd angles in places, but they were still on their feet by him.  The only one that seemed to be hesitant about stepping forward was Naoto, as she was hanging in the back, her hat low over her eyes.  He internally cringed at that; he could not blame her one bit, and he was honestly surprised she was even still around after everything he did to demean her.  She caught him gazing in her direction, and she gave a faint nod; at least that much was progress.

"All right then…" he muttered, turning back to the shadowy Persona as it lifted its sword toward them in challenge, its cape of coffins fanning out again at the gesture.  "Let's do this!"

"You heard him, guys!  Let's get pumped!" Rise exclaimed, her speakers coming up around them, blasting out an upbeat tune.  Their Personae seemed to pick themselves up at that, like her Persona was giving them extra strength.

Kanji, of course, charged forward first, the large bludgeon coming down on the shadow.  It raised its sword to block the attack, easily shoving Take-Mikazuchi away even though it was so much smaller.  The teen let out a surprised noise as his Persona nearly fell over, but Sukuna-Hikona was zipping in just behind him, lashing out with his laser sword.  The shadow was forced on defense, its sword braced against its arm as the bite-sized Persona struck blow after blow.  Its coffins suddenly opened as he continued to strike, surrounding him in darkness; Naoto weathered the attack, but she still had to pull Sukuna-Hikona back as she flinched in pain.

Teddie and Saki came up next, Tsunade lashing out with wind bursts as Kintoki Douji called on spears of ice.  With the wind backing it up, the ice launched out at the shadow twice as fast, stabbing through a coffin as it tried to avoid the attack.  It let out an annoyed hiss, lashing out with darkness again, but Adachi brought White Rider before them, cutting off the attack and letting the darkness fall harmlessly away.  Of course, that only made the shadow target him next, and its blade slashed through White Rider, even as he tried to block with his bow.

Adachi let out a grunt of pain, taking a step back as Yukiko called on Konohana Sakuya, bursts of flames rising up to force it away from them.  He reached a hand out, switching Personae again.

_"Ishtar!"_

An inhumanly beautiful woman appeared, dressed in sheepskin and a pair of ram's horns poking out from her curly blonde hair.  She held her arms out to them, sending out a burst of energy that helped everyone that had been struck so far stand up a little straighter.  Kanji shot him a suspicious look, raising an eyebrow at him.

"Dude, how many Personas do you _have?"_ he asked.

Adachi let out an awkward noise, not sure how he was supposed to explain that his bonding with people was granting him extra power while they had a huge corrupted Persona trying to blast them full of darkness.  He was about to say there was not time for an explanation, when the shadow lashed out at them, striking out again and again at anyone it could reach.  Both Adachi and Kanji yelped as they backed off, and Rise's speakers shot out from behind them, pummeling at the shadow.  Sukuna-Hikona took the opportunity that presented, shooting out to slash at the shadow.  It managed to retreat, but not before the tiny Persona left a large gash across its chest.

"Adachi-san, our enemy is wide open!" Naoto shouted.

"Take the last shot, Adachi!"

Adachi glanced back at Saki at her exclamation, catching the smile on her face.  He blinked in surprise, not used to having that kind of support behind him, and it took a moment for a faint smile to creep up on his face, a weird feeling curling up in his chest.  He turned back to the shadow, that smile turning into a smirk as he reached out for his own Arcana.

_"Izanagi!"_

His Persona burst into existence, nodachi gleaming as he shot forward, putting all his weight behind a swing that cleaved the shadow in two.  The Shadow screamed in pain as her corrupted Persona faded away from existence, leaving her alone where she had fallen to her knees.  It was a moment before she finally looked up at them, her glowing white eyes dimming, almost looking like she was crying.

 _"Why?"_ she asked again.  _"Why was I never mourned?"_

She flickered, fading away before any of them could answer and leaving their group in silence.  It was a moment before Adachi let out a breath, turning around to the others.

"So… let's never come here to train again, okay?"

That broke the tension in the room, and Kanji let out a snort, rolling his eyes.  Naoto pressed a hand to her chin, frowning in thought.

"That didn't seem to have anything to do with the case…" she began.  "Her profile did not match any of the victims.  But…"

"We should look into it if we find the time, yeah," Adachi replied, glancing back at where she had been standing, an uneasy feeling clawing at the back of his mind.  He was pretty sure whatever that Shadow was did not have to do with the case either, but even if it did not, there was always the chance that it could be something that would come back to bite them later.

He glanced over the others, noticing that Saki looked like she was going to fall over any second.  He reached out to her, making her jump in surprised, before she shrunk back, looking a bit sheepish.

"Sorry… that first hit really hurt," she said, letting Adachi loop an arm around her to help keep her up.

They started to file out at that, with the others taking point, though he paused again, glancing back at where the Shadow had been standing.  Saki followed his gaze, before turning a curious look up to him.

"…you think it might have something to do with you?" she asked softly.  He blinked down at her in surprise, like he was wondering when she developed mind reading powers, only to get a laugh in response.  "You change Personas, she changed Personas.  You think I wouldn't notice that?"

Adachi let out a sheepish noise.  "Well… maybe.  Let's just worry about getting you to the hospital for now," he replied, following the others out.  Saki just rolled her eyes.

"The hospital… you just want to see that nurse again."

"S-shut up!"

~.oOOo.~

Adachi was hanging around the outside hall from Saki's room, his hands in his pockets as he leaned against the wall.  The others had wanted to stay as well, but she had waved them off, insisting that one over protective teammate was more than enough.  At least it made sense for him to be hanging around her anyway, since by all accounts he was still supposed to be protecting her, Dojima prodding him about hanging around teenagers aside.

And sure, _maybe_ he was hoping to see that nurse again.  If there was anyone he would not mind having a social link with…

It was strange that Sayoko had not passed by yet; she was around almost all the time when he was stuck in the hospital with his broken arm, and every time he brought one of the others around she always showed up.  For all he knew, as soon as she saw his name as a guest in the hospital, she went zooming to find him… though that probably was not the case.  His ego could stand to dream, at least.

Adachi was about to push himself off the wall and enter Saki's room to check in on her, when he heard the sound of someone talking just down the hall, though one of the voices was shouting more than talking.  He paused, frowning; one of the voices sounded like Sayoko, but he could not tell for certain at the distance he was at.  Again he hesitated, glancing back and forth between the door and the hallway, before finally going to inspect what all the shouting was about.

It turned out the voice that had been shouting was not Sayoko, though she was there, calmly staring down the woman that was doing all the shouting.  At least she looked calm on the outside; coming up behind her, he could see that she had a death grip on the clipboard she was hugging to her chest.

"I had every right to smear your name around publicly!" the woman bellowed.  "My husband filed for divorce because of you!  I won't rest until everyone in this _world_ knows what a harlot you are!"

Sayoko's grip on her board tightened, and he did not need to be looking to know that she was about to snap, possibly even do something she would regret.  Adachi stepped in then, making sure the woman saw he was there before he pulled his wallet from his jacket pocket.

"Adachi Tohru, Inaba PD," he introduced, flipping it open so she could see his badge.  "What seems to be the trouble here?"

Sayoko started, turning toward him in surprise, while the woman's wrath seemed to immediately deflate, and she took a step back so she was not as close to them.

"No trouble, officer," she replied smoothly, like she had not just been shouting her head off.  "We're merely having a conversation."

Conversation.  _Right._

"Maybe it would be a conversation better left elsewhere," he suggested, slipping his wallet back into his pocket.  "There are people here trying to recover themselves.  It would be best if they weren't disturbed."

He had to pause a moment then, silently staring like he was standing outside of himself.  Wow… just then, he sounded more like a cop than he ever had.

The woman retreated a step further, bowing her head, though not without shooting Sayoko a glare.  "Of course, officer," she replied softly, before finally leaving.  Sayoko followed her down the hall with her eyes, waiting until she disappeared from sight, before letting out a shuddering sigh, her shoulders sagging like a weight had just been lifted off of them.

"That woman…" she muttered under her breath, before glancing up at Adachi, straightening herself up as she planted a smile on her face that she obviously was not feeling.  "I suppose I need to thank my hero for that, hm?"

"Don't worry about it, she was causing a scene," he replied.  "Are you okay?"

She seemed taken aback by the question, and she was not that good at hiding it.  The fake smile dropped from her face after a moment, and she clutched the clipboard closer to her chest.

"I'll… be fine," she said softly.  "Eventually, I will be fine."  A moment passed, before she let out a breath.  "…you're going to ask what that was about, aren't you?"

"Not if you don't want me to," Adachi replied.  Again, she seemed surprised by his answer, though when she smiled again after a moment, it was much more genuine.

"The hospital I used to work in," she began, "one of the doctors there… he came on to me strong.  I knew he was married, but I also knew his wife.  What you saw there was fairly normal for their relationship as well.  I know it was wrong, but when he said he was already filing the papers before he met me, I believed it.  When our relationship was exposed was when I found out he hadn't yet."

She paused again, letting out a sigh.  "I had to leave that hospital and move here.  Just recently, one of the patients I was looking after, a sweet little boy… he died.  That doctor called me to let me know, and his wife has been on me ever since.  She even hired one of those 'reality show' crews to film me and stalk after me while I was at work.  It was on air a few days ago; the fact that it exists is threatening my job here as well."

Adachi's eyes widened slightly, feeling his stomach hit his shoes.  Oh _no…_

"Has anyone been stalking you since then?" he asked, and she seemed taken aback but the sudden change in his mood.

"No…" she replied, before shaking her head, realizing what he was getting at.  "Since those murders started, the nursing staff has always been walking home in pairs.  One of our part time janitors has been kind enough to escort me home."

Adachi let out a breath, relaxing slightly.  The hospital was a public place, and she walked home with someone; that meant the only time she was alone was when she was home.  Unless their murderer decided to stalk her and her escort home, they would have to have been insane to try and shove her in a TV with that schedule.  She did not miss his reaction, however, giving him a worried look.

"You don't think…?" she began, looking like she was torn between being frightened and going after that woman to rip her hair out.

"I don't, but… stick close to someone whenever you can, okay?" he asked.  "Don't stay alone for any length of time."

Sayoko hesitated, looking worried for a moment… before a bit of a sly look came to her face.  Next thing he knew, she was latching onto his arm, holding him tight.

"Mm… is that just an excuse to get me closer to you?" she asked.

Adachi stared for a long moment, frozen in place.  _Man,_ there was so much that he wanted to say in response to that, but his throat locked up, and the only thing he could manage was an awkward sounding, "ah," noise.  She let out a laugh, and he could feel his face growing hotter and hotter the longer she held onto him.  He still had not recovered by the time she let go, moving away from him.

"I'll see you around, detective."

It was not until she disappeared around the corner that his voice decided to cooperate with him, and he let out a frustrated noise, coming close to a scream as he slumped over, his arms dangling toward the floor.

"That. Was.  _Pathetic."_

~.oOOo.~

He was standing facing the television in his room, his eyes focused on the blank screen as the seconds ticked by on the clock.  Just a few more minutes and it would be midnight; just a few more minutes and his fears would be confirmed.

Right on schedule, there was a snapping noise from the TV as soon as the hands on the clock read midnight, and a yellow haze filled the screen as the Midnight Channel came on.  The haze receded back into a very clear image of a Victorian style house, looking like something out of a picture book, or a little girl's room.  Music like from a jewelry box flooded over the speakers, and a sign appeared amongst a flurry of sparkles, titling the show, "Too Cute for Words!  Sayoko-chan and Her Dollhouse of Dreams!"  The gaudy title broke apart into hearts and rainbows, and Sayoko appeared in its place, but she was not wearing her nurse's uniform.  Instead she was in a dress that could only be described as a full-out Lolita explosion: frills and lace and satiny fabric, and even a tiny top hat sitting askew on her head.

"Good evening boys and girls!" she exclaimed, striking a pose that most would probably describe as adorable.  "Welcome to my dollhouse, where love and happiness exists all around.  I'm your host, Sayoko-chan!"

A crowd of little dolls in similar dress sprang up around her, staring empty eyed out at the screen as their wooden hands came up in applause.

"Tonight we're inviting all the little boys and girls over for a big sleepover party!" she declared, pressing her hands to her cheeks.  "There will be tea and little cakes, and we're going to have so much fun, you'll never want to leave!  So please stop in; I'll be sure to be the very best hostess for you!"

She curtsied at the viewing screen, before she turned away, the dolls parting and letting her skip toward the dollhouse before the TV snapped off again.  Silence filled the room as he continued to stare at the TV screen, his fists tightening, until a head of blonde hair got in the way of his vision.

"Huuuuunh…" Teddie mused, poking at the screen, only to make rings of light dance across the screen.  "So _that's_ the Midnight Channel you guys were always talking about?"

Adachi forced out a breath as his phone went off.  He muttered a faint sound of acknowledgement as he pulled his cell out, flipping it open without looking at the number.

"Adachi."

"…what kind of nurse are you crushing on?"

He let out a groan at that.  "I'm not crushing on her, Saki!" he wailed as Teddie perked up, hopping back over to him and trying to grab the phone.

"Saki-chan!  Saki-chan!" he exclaimed as Adachi put a hand on his head, trying to keep him as far back as he could.  "Let me talk too!"

"Chill out!" he shouted, pulling the phone away and pressing a button.  "There, it's on speaker."

"Saki-chan!" Teddie yelled at the phone.  "It's me!  Your loveable bear friend!"

"You don't need to yell, Teddie…" Saki replied from the other side, and Adachi could practically see the exasperated expression on her face.  "Did you watch the Midnight Channel too?"

"Mmhmm, mmhmm," the bear replied, and if he were in his costume, his tail would probably be wiggling back and forth like crazy.  "It's not any kind of recording at all.  The TVs see into the other world, so they're reacting to any strong presences that are there.  That's why we see them like this when they're on the other side."

"That doesn't explain why we see them _before_ they're in there too," Adachi said.  "Or why we see some people but not others."

"It could be timing…" Saki murmured.  "Remember?  My… my brother went missing the night before he died."

An awkward silence fell over them, and Teddie looked up at Adachi as he ran a hand through his hair.

"That could be it," the bear said.  "And maybe the TV reacts to people on the outside too."

"It's a lot of maybes…" Adachi pointed out.  "But right now, we need to get into the TV.  And also…"

"Also?" Saki prompted as he trailed off, glancing worriedly at Teddie.

"…I'll tell you guys tomorrow.  We'll meet up at Junes while I'm on patrol."

Saki sounded worried as she muttered an okay, but she did not try to pull it out of him.  She hung up, and Adachi flipped the phone closed, before looking down to the typed out letter in his other hand.  He held it up again, smoothing it out so he could read the message again.

> a pocket full of posies  
> for all the little ones  
> for all the big ones  
> never enough  
> can't save them all  
> won't save them all 
> 
> can't stop me  
> emptiness is only fun  
> when there's something  
> trying to get in

It was a vague warning about Sayoko, but it was more than that; it was a direct taunt from the murderer to him, left in his own mailbox.


	34. Chapter Twenty-seven – Please Don't Leave

"Welcome, to the Velvet Room."

It had been awhile since he came to the Room and saw the Nose seated at his spot.  He almost made him jump, and Igor let out a faint sound of amusement at that.  Michael was in his usual place of course, and he let out a faint chuckle as well at his reaction.  The detective tried not to roll his eyes at the two of them; he swore they were out to torment him more than usual.  That smile of Igor's even lingered on his face as he folded his hands under his impressive nose, bulging eyes focused on him.

"It seems the end of your journey is in sight," he announced, making him lean back in surprise.

"Wha—already?"

"Your journey began in the spring, you know," Michael supplied.  "The winter months will be approaching soon… it's been over half of a year since you began to walk this path."

He paused at that, mouth open slightly in surprise.  Had it really been that long?  It felt so much shorter, that the days had all blurred together into one massive lump of time.  After a moment, he reached up, running a hand over his face.

"You will soon be at a crossroads, where your decisions will have a massive impact over how the future develops," Igor continued, waving a hand over his divination table.  His cards appeared at his command, and with a snap of his fingers, the Tower card flipped over in the center, still in the reverse position.  "The Reverse Tower still hangs over your fate.  Where your future leads, I still cannot say."

"Your progress has far exceeded our expectations," Michael picked up, resting the Compendium on his lap before opening it.  The Arcana representing the bonds he had made so far lifted themselves out of the book, rotating around before him.  "There are still more bonds you can form, but with how you have developed, there's hope you will succeed in gathering them all and complete your World."

He paused a moment, a faint smile coming to his face, before he gently closed the book.  "I guess… I should say I know you'll be able to obtain them all."

He blinked in surprise, before he returned the smile with one of his own.  Igor chuckled softly, changing the fold of his hands under his nose.

"Well then, until we meet again…"

~.oOOo.~

They were all gathered at their usual place at Junes, huddled around one of the larger tables under the hooded area of the food court as rain poured down all around them.  The gloomy look of the rain soaked streets paled compared to the cloud of doom that hung over their group, as they stared down the piece of paper lying in the center of the table.  Naoto in particular was staring down at it like it would reach out and bite them any second, before she finally flicked her gaze up toward Adachi.

"You did not report this, did you?" she asked.

"Of course not," Adachi replied, and he did not need to get into why.  If he reported that he received a note from the murderer in his own home mailbox, he would have been immediately pulled off the case and shoved somewhere safe.  Seeing as his own ignorant actions had gotten Naoto censored from the case, they could not afford to have the information they could get from the department completely cut off.

"Man, this is bad…" Kanji muttered.  "This guy's watchin' us, isn't he?"

"Seems that way…" Saki replied softly, her hands curling into fists, no doubt thinking about her brother and his death.  With this, the fact that he had been a target to begin with seemed much more deliberate.

"More importantly, our suspect is getting sloppy," Naoto pointed out.  "He's broken his pattern just to prove that he's watching us, not to mention he risked being seen by leaving this message for Adachi-san."

"That is daring, just going up to a detective's mail and leaving a note inside," Yukiko pointed out.  "Either he knew exactly when no one would be around, or he just does not stand out enough for people to notice."

"Are we sure it's the murderer that did it?" Rise asked, peering over at the note to get a better look.  "It could be the other guy, right?"

Adachi shook his head.  "The other one sounds more like he wants to save people than kill them," he pointed out.  "Not only that, but the murderer taunted us with his little, 'catch me if you can' before.  He's much more deliberate than the one that's just kidnapping these people."

"That also means our murderer is the one to have pushed Sayoko-san into the television," Naoto added.  "He's unstable now; we may well be getting close to the point where we can catch him."

Teddie had been quiet during the whole meeting, but when Naoto said they were close to catching the murderer, he visibly flinched.  Adachi glanced down at him in surprise, before he plopped a hand on his blonde head, mussing his hair.

"What're you looking so down for?" he asked.  "We'll be keeping our promise; the other side will quiet down once we catch this guy."

A faint attempt at a smile cracked on his face, but it felt very forced.  "But… would I have to go back once you do?"

"Hunh?"

Teddie looked up at him, looking serious for the first time he could recall.  "Well… I won't need to be here anymore if there's no mystery to solve…"

"What are you talking about?" Saki spoke up, reaching over to poke at Teddie's shoulder.  "You still have a shift you need to work, mister.  You're not getting out of it that easy."

"But—?"

"Geeze, of course you can't leave," Adachi added, letting his arm drop so it was draped over the bear's shoulders.  "Who am I going to blame when I want to get out of work early?"

_"You shouldn't be using him as an excuse for that!"_

Adachi jumped as both Naoto and Saki blasted him at the same time.  He paused, before glancing down at Teddie, the two of them exchanging sheepish looks, complete with chuckles.  Naoto rolled her eyes, letting out a faint sigh and Saki smacked the detective's arm.

"We should probably jump in the TV as soon as possible," Rise pointed out as Adachi rubbed his arm in mock pain.  "That doll house… something bothers me about it."

"Like everything?" Kanji muttered under his breath.  "'Sides, it's supposed to be raining non-stop for the next few days.  There's definitely going to be fog around afterwards.  We don't have much time."

Adachi made a face, a slight shudder running along his shoulders; he already knew this encounter was going to be a painful one.  Still, they agreed to meet up later that day, at a time that would coincide with when he would be on patrol again; as it was, he was already late getting back, and as soon as they decided to break, Adachi had to go running through the rain, barely remembering to pull up the hood of his yellow rain jacket as he dashed off.

Saki watched him as he ran off, letting out a sigh and shaking her head, before she turned to see that Kanji was standing right behind her, waiting for her attention.  He let out a faint sound of embarrassment, rubbing at the back of his head, before pulling out the headphones she had given him to fix.

"Here, senpai," he said, holding them out to her.  "Naoto got the wires fixed up, and I got the plastic back together best I could.  It's not perfect, but…"

Saki gingerly reached out to take the headphones from him.  She did not know what he was talking about; if she did not know where the break actually was, she would have been hard pressed to find the seam.  A small smile came to her face as she held the headphones close to her chest, a weird feeling making her stomach churn.

"Thank you, Kanji-kun…"

~.oOOo.~

At this point, the red and black sky of the TV world was not nearly as creepy as it was when they had first started entering the TV.  However, with it serving as a backdrop for a massive Victorian house, the angles of the roof stabbing at the sky and making it look like the house was bleeding, it was highly unsettling.  Dried out vines were crawling all over the house, like skeletal fingers trying to drag the structure into the ground.  A cracked sidewalk stretched up to the porch, while the grounds were peppered with trees and flower bushes that looked more like drops of candy than plants.

Adachi leaned back away from it, making a face.  "This is going to be a nightmare…" he muttered.

Next to him, Saki tossed him a sly look.  "You really know how to pick them, Mr. Detective."

"S-shut up, geeze…"

Their group started forward and into the house, and they were barely a few steps into the front foyer when a creepy creaking noise surrounded them.  It left all of them on high alert, though they still jumped when a doll suddenly appeared, twirling its way toward them from a large door between two grand staircases.  It took a moment for Adachi to realize that the doll was supposed to be Sayoko; even though she was dressed the same as she had been on TV, she looked more like a hand crafted puppet, complete with strings and joints.  She stopped before them, her mouth even opening and closing like a doll's as she stared at them with her unblinking yellow eyes.

"Hello and welcome, boys and girls," she greeted them, curtsying.  "You are all welcome to stay forever in my little home."

Just then, the doors behind them slammed shut, making the whole group jump again in surprise.  Kanji and Teddie went right for the doors, but no matter how hard they tugged on them, they refused to open again.

"We're stuck!" Kanji exclaimed, giving the doors a good shove with his shoulder, to no avail.

The Shadow doll let out a giggle at that, and more Shadows started to appear, crawling down along the walls and the staircase.  They started to form into more dolls as they got closer to them: little doll cupids with wings and toy arrows, teddy bears that dangled in the air, and weird groups of dolls whose heads, hands, and feet were bound together with wire.  It was not long before they found themselves surrounded, and Adachi tightened his grip on his sword as Sayoko's Shadow let out another creepy giggle.

"Now boys and girls, remember to play nice with the toys," she warned them.  "I will have some tea and cookies for you all later if you behave."

The dolls all closed in on them as Shadow Sayoko left, twirling out as she had come in.  Adachi had to take a swipe at one that got too close as she disappeared, letting out a muttered curse, before calling on Izanagi and his lightning.  A few of the dolls went up in smoke, though it was not nearly as many as he would have liked.

"We might need to force our way through!" he exclaimed, flinching as one got too close, digging its claws into Izanagi before his Persona stabbed it in the face.  "Ted!"

_"Kintoki Douji!"_

Teddie's round Persona plopped onto the ground in front of them, squishing some dolls and knocking others clear away as it rolled forward until it hit the staircases.

"Striiiiiiike!" the bear exclaimed, squeaking alongside the others as they ran forward to get to the door the Shadow had disappeared through.

The long hallway on the other side was quiet, with only the swaying of curtains on the walls to block their path.  Naoto took a cautious step forward, gun out and pointed toward the ground, but when nothing sprang out at them, she paused to glance back at Adachi.  He let out a soft breath, running a hand over his face.

"We gotta be careful," he finally said after a moment.  "We can't just leave like we could before, so we've got to go all the way to the end and hope taking out her Shadow will open the entrance."

Rise stepped forward then, a grin on her face.  "I've got an idea; let me scout ahead."

Adachi's mouth was open to protest that she would be squashed pretty easily if it was just her, when Rise put her hands before her, calling forth Himiko.  Her speakers zipped ahead of them instead, turning around a corner, before letting out a loud _blat_ noise and zipping back.  A rumbling sound followed immediately after, and a huge Shadow riding on a rocking horse hopped around the corner, heading right for them.  Exasperated gazes all fell on Rise as she let out a sheepish noise.

"O-oh… there was one around the corner…"

There was so much Adachi wanted to say in response to that, but the Shadow was throwing a wind spell at them, and he ended up blasted off his feet before he could switch Personae.  He let out a groan as Yukiko stood over him protectively, calling on Konohana Sakuya to retaliate against the attack, flames dancing around the Shadow.  It was hurt, but it did not seem overly bothered by it as it rocked back and forth on its horse, large hands reaching out to swat at her Persona.

Adachi got up as she had to back off, reaching out to switch Personae.  A man appeared, sitting in the lotus position as swords hovered around him.  They snapped up as one, stabbing out at the Shadow until it burst into darkness and disappeared.

Everyone paused then, all eyes turning toward Rise.  She turned a healthy shade of red, gripping her microphone stand.

"It… it seemed like a good idea!" she protested.

"It was a sound idea, but not so in practice," Naoto replied, a thoughtful hand going to her chin.  "Perhaps if the speakers do not let out a noise like that?  Or if it does, it stays in the vicinity so we may have an advantage against the enemy Shadows?"

Adachi nodded; if they can keep the Shadows distracted, they could even sneak by them and avoid fighting all together.

"Can you do that, Rise?" he asked.

She beamed at him, twirling her microphone stand around in her hand and making Kanji take a step back before he got hit.

"I'll try my best!" she exclaimed.  "It might take a lot of concentration, though.  You guys better protect me."

"From what…?" Kanji muttered under his breath, eyeing her stand like it was going to come around and hit him anyway.

If Rise heard him, she ignored him; instead, she focused on sending her speakers out, looking like she was concentrating intently.  After a moment, she gave a nod, silently letting them know they could move forward now, and Adachi proceeded ahead first, occasionally glancing back at her to make sure she was okay.  She caught him looking one time, and flashed him a reassuring smile, making him remind himself for the umpteenth time that Rise was a lot more resilient than she looked.  One of these days, he would actually remember that.

They turned a hall, spotting one of the speakers actually pestering a Shadow, letting out loud _blatt_ ing noises as the Shadow doll tried to get a swipe in at it as it bounced above it.  Kanji and Saki charged forward to get the drop on the Shadow, striking the doll from behind.  It fell over in surprise, turning around just in time to be engulfed in Yukiko's flames.

"Oh, I like how this works much better," she commented, drawing a worried glance from Adachi and Kanji.  That almost sounded _sadistic_ coming from her…

Their group continued forward, protecting Rise as her speakers continued to provide a distraction through the dollhouse maze.  Up multiple flights of stairs, through long corridors; it felt like hours passed by before they finally came out to a wide open area that seemed deceptively empty.  Adachi and Naoto scouted around, looking for any Shadows that may literally come out through the woodwork, but nothing ever came.  They nodded to each other from across the room, before Adachi held up a hand to the others.

"Let's take five; we could use it."

There were no arguments from the others, and Rise let out a relieved noise, flopping over onto the ground where she was standing without any care if anyone saw up her skirt as a result.  She went fishing around in her little pack for a water bottle as everyone came to sit around in the general area, pulling out snacks from any packs or pockets they managed to bring with them, and Adachi looked around at all of them, his stomach letting out a faint noise of protest.  It was loud enough to draw Saki's attention, and she glanced at him with an energy bar dangling from her mouth, eyebrow raised.

"Didn't you bring anything?" she asked.

He let out a sheepish noise, rubbing at the back of his neck.  "Ah… I didn't think of it."

"Sensei doesn't eat much," Teddie piped up from around a mouthful of candy.  "It's always cabbage or cheap fast food."

"Hey, I don't want to hear that from you," Adachi snapped.  "If I didn't make you eat something else, you'd just survive on junk food!"

Teddie just grinned at that, bits of chocolate still clinging to his teeth, as Rise raised her water bottle.

"We should totally have a cook off at Adachi's place!" she exclaimed.

"I don't think you'll all fit in my apartment…" Adachi muttered.  Now that all of his things were unpacked, there was a lot less walking room.  Not that he was complaining about that.

"Eh, we'll squeeze in," Kanji replied, waving a hand.  "You can't just survive on cabbage, man.  No wonder you're so damn skinny."

"I'm not _skinny,_ I'm _thin,"_ Adachi protested, but that did not keep Saki from reaching over, poking at his stomach with an extra energy bar.

"No, you're skinny," she said, offering the bar to him.  He made a sour face, but he was not about to say no to offered food.  His stomach let out a happy noise as soon as he bit into it, and he rolled his eyes as everyone laughed.  Just wait until they were single and working their asses off to make a paycheck decent enough to cover bills.

Once they were well rested, they started off again, heading up and up through the house, with Rise's speakers scouting the way ahead.  It made traveling through the twisted house that much easier, and it was not long before they came to an overly ornate set of double doors.  Rise wobbled unsteadily on her feet as they approached, before sinking down to her knees, her speakers coming to surround her.  After a moment, both they and Himiko disappeared, returning to her soul.

"G-guys…" she murmured as Adachi went over to her, kneeling down to make sure she was okay.  "I don't think I can go on in.  I'm sorry, I…!"

He paused a moment, before resting a hand on her shoulder.  "Hey… it's okay.  You've toughed it through this long.  You deserve a rest."

Rise looked up at him, looking grateful for the support, as over his shoulder Naoto gave Adachi's back a critical look.  After a moment, she reached up to adjust her hat, moving toward the doors as Saki came over by the two of them.

"I can look after her, make sure she stays safe," she said.  "You guys go on ahead."

Adachi nodded, giving Rise's shoulder a squeeze, before getting up to head over to the doors himself.  He paused, feeling Naoto's eyes on him again, and he glanced down at her, just barely making out the hard look she was giving him around her hat.

"Your capacity for empathy has improved at an alarming rate," she noted softly.  "One would think you had an ulterior motive for such a dramatic change."

Adachi let out an awkward noise, feeling like he knew exactly what she was getting at.  It definitely had to be about the number of Personae he suddenly had, and he was not that surprised she would be able to figure that the increased number was in direct proportion to the sudden bonds he had been making with the others.  He cleared out his throat as those coming in gathered around, not about to get into it when they had someone they needed to rescue.  Still, he could feel her eyes drilling a hole into the side of his head and he rested his hands on the door handles, pushing down on them.

"L-let's get going, guys!"

He shoved the doors open, and their group bounded in.  The room beyond was set up like the perfect little girl's tea party, complete with various plush animals seated on chairs around a long table.  Frills and draperies were everywhere, especially at the head of the table, where there was a figure slumped back in her chair, still wearing her nurse's uniform.

"Sayoko-san!" Adachi called out to her, hoping that would be enough to get her to wake up.  He started forward when she did not move, only to have her Shadow suddenly appear behind her.  She spun around once, her jointed arms coming around the real Sayoko protectively.

"Shhh…" she said, her yellow eyes bearing down on them.  "Such naughty children you've all been, breaking all my toys, and now trying to wake our guest of honor?  Shame on you!"

All the dolls and plushies in the room suddenly sat up straighter in their seats, all their little plastic eyes turning to them at once.  Adachi skidded to a stop, backing up as a few of them started to move, coming toward them as the doors behind them snapped shut, blocking them off from Saki and Rise.

"Crap, not again!" Kanji shouted as Teddie let out a scared cry, trying to throw his stubby arms up over his head.  Naoto stood her ground as the others tried to back up, calling on her Arcana.

_"Sukuna-Hikona!"_

The small Persona shot out from the sea of her soul, his sword lashing out at the plushies and dolls in their path.  Stuffing and doll parts went flying everywhere as the overly large laser sword cut them down, and the Shadow let out an irate screech, clutching tighter to the real Sayoko.

That was enough to get her to stir, and after a moment, the nurse blinked her eyes open.  She stared out at them blearily, as if trying to figure out why they were all there, before she realized just _what_ was holding on to her.  A scream escaped from her then as she was suddenly very awake, trying to struggle away from the doll-like Shadow, only to have her hold on to her tighter.

"See?  You naughty children have upset our honored guest now!" the Shadow scolded them as Sayoko continued to struggle.

"You…?!" Sayoko demanded, sounding as scared as she looked.  "What are you?!  Why are you doing this?!"

The Shadow held her closer to her, almost looking like she was smiling despite her carved face.  "Why, I'm you, and you're me," she answered easily as Sayoko craned herself around, staring with wide eyes at the wooden face.  "Everything that happens here is all because of us."

Sayoko had to look away from her, looking like she wanted to scream again.  Her eyes settled on Adachi, widening in recognition, and he started forward again, intending to boldly reach out and grab for her.  The Shadow let out an irritated noise, and the plush toys behind her suddenly stood up, pulling out knives from their fuzzy bodies as they advanced on him.  Sayoko let out a startled noise at that, reaching up to try and pry the wooden arm off of her.

"No, stop this!" she exclaimed as Adachi swept his sword down, trying to get the cute little nightmares to back off.  "This… this can't be happening because of me!  I don't want this at all!"

"Don't be silly," her Shadow cooed, reaching up to pet at her head.  Sayoko grimaced, still struggling as she continued.  "I know what you really want.  All those people, coming to see you.  All the attention they give you and make you feel so special… but it's so fleeting, and in the end, they leave you all alone, only to have the cycle repeat over again.  But then, you were the one that had to go and leave…"

Sayoko's grip on the doll's arm tightened as Adachi stabbed through the last plush, only to have another wave come at him and nearly knock him off his feet.

"N-no… don't…"

"Of course, since you were the one to leave, it had to be much worse," the Shadow sneered, her wooden fingers digging into Sayoko's shoulder.  "This time, a little boy died, and it was all your fault."

That was enough to get Sayoko to let go of the doll, biting her lip as she struggled not to cry.   Her Shadow disappeared from behind her, suddenly reappearing in front of her not a moment later.  She rested both hands on her shoulders, yellow eyes opened as wide as her painted face would allow it.

"But that's okay, Sayoko-chan!" she exclaimed.  "I'm here, and we can stay together in this place.  We can bring all the little boys and girls and keep them here with us.  We'll never have to be alone.  They'll never have to leave.  We'll all be together and love each other _forever._ Isn't that just everything you ever wanted, me?"

Sayoko squeezed her eyes shut, sinking back in her chair as far as she could with the wooden grip on her shoulders.  She shook her head, refusing to look as the plushies started to push Adachi and his team back against the wall, pinning them down.

"N-no…" she whimpered.

Adachi's eyes widened; oh no, he knew what was coming next.  "Sayoko, don't!"

Sayoko shook her head furiously.  "No!  This isn't what I want!  This isn't me!"

All the plushies and dolls in the room suddenly stopped then, revolving their heads around to stare at Sayoko and her Shadow, eyes gleaming as the disturbing sound of child-like cackling filled the room.  The Shadow's head disconnected itself from her neck, hanging upside down by a string as its mouth opened wide, streaming darkness all over the room.  Sayoko screamed in terror, caught up in the middle of it and disappearing from view as the Shadow lurched itself forward.

"Sayoko!" Adachi shouted, letting out an irritated noise as he kicked a plush out of his way.  These stupid things…!  "Teddie, we could use some bowling action right now!"

"You got it, Sensei!" Teddie chirped, slashing at his Arcana card once it appeared.  _"Bearsona!"_

Kintoki Douji appeared once again, rolling around and sending plushies and dolls flying out of the way, when he was not smashing them flat.  The round Persona spun around once it reached the end of the line of killer cute toys, swiveling toward where the Shadow was still forming.  He bounced up, a block of ice forming up above the darkness; but just as it was about to fall down on whatever was coming, a wooden hand suddenly shot out, grabbing the block of ice.  It crushed the ice easily, spraying chunks back on all of them.  Yukiko let out a shout as she jumped back to avoid it, and another arm emerged from the darkness… and another… and another…

A head finally pulled itself out – a bald, featureless doll head with empty eyes and a broken mouth, hanging wide open from the joint it was attached to.  The Shadow planted its hands on the ground, pulling the rest of itself out; more arms, and a single set of disjointed legs.  Its midsection was hard to see until it pushed itself up, two sets of arms held up to the air and showing off the cage that made up its chest area.  Sayoko let out a groan from inside, struggling to get up to her feet, one hand on her head as she wavered unsteadily.  The Shadow lurched forward again, landing on her hands and crushing the table under her as Sayoko let out a startled yelp.

 _"I am a Shadow.  I am the true self,"_ the twisted puppet intoned.  _"Come, boys and girls.  Let us play together forever!"_

"Not interested, lady!" Kanji shouted, punching out his Arcana card.  Take-Mikazuchi appeared, already swinging his bludgeon down on the doll.  The Shadow shot upright, exposing the cage that Sayoko was trapped in, and his Persona came to a screeching halt.  If he had followed through, he definitely would have caused more damage to her than to her Shadow.  Instead the puppet ended up grabbing Take-Mikazuchi, chomping down on his head with its broken jaw _hard._

Kanji fell to his knees, holding his head in pain as Adachi stepped forward, crushing his card in his hand.

_"Izanagi!"_

His Persona burst forward, smacking at the Shadow's head with the flat of his sword to try and get it to let go.  Instead a hand came up, swatting him away like he was an insect, and Adachi stumbled backward as Izanagi hit a wall, feeling like the air had been kicked out of his lungs.  Yukiko called on Konohana Sakuya, fires springing up around the wooden doll and forcing it to let Kanji's Persona go and flop back down on its hands.  It hissed at them in irritation, turning around and grabbing one of the draperies, pulling itself up toward the ceiling.  Its disjointed legs hooked themselves awkwardly around a beam, leaving it to hang upside down as Sayoko let out a startled cry from inside her cage.

_"Let's see what you kids like to play with the most!"_

It held its hands out toward them, square beams of light shooting out and washing over each of their Personae.  Adachi flinched, waiting for the pain to hit… but nothing happened?

"Did that even do anything?" he muttered under his breath.  Recognition was slowly starting to form in his mind, even as Teddie pumped his fists next to him, puffing out his cheeks.

"This one's getting on my last stuffing!" he wailed, having Kintoki Douji fly up with his tomahawk missile, ready to hit the thing in the head with it.  Unfortunately, it jerked to the side like the Persona was moving in slow motion, letting him fly past it and explode against the wall.  Teddie let out a whimper as Naoto had her Persona come up next, the large laser sword lashing out at one of the puppet's arms.  It dodged the attack easily and continued to do so, even as Sukuna-Hikona attempted to land at least one hit.  Instead, the Shadow smacked out at him with a wooden hand, sending the small Persona up against the wall next to Izanagi.

"Stop that!" Yukiko shouted at the puppet, her Persona sending out bursts of flame up toward the ceiling.  The Shadow evaded easily, its arms grabbing the beams and looping around like an acrobat.  Sayoko could be heard shouting as the puppet wove around, thumping against her cage until it finally came to a rest, broken jaw swinging around wildly.  Ice suddenly appeared above Konohana Sakuya, and Yukiko let out a startled noise as they were both pelted by ice cubes.

"Is it reading our moves!?" she exclaimed, backing up as best she could.

"Read this!" Kanji shouted, moving to have Take-Mikazuchi take a stab at the beams above him, but Adachi grabbed for his arm, making him stop.

"Wait," he said.  "Sayoko's going to get seriously hurt if we keep making that thing move around like that."

"So what the hell are we supposed to do?" he demanded.

Adachi pursed his lips together; what _were_ they supposed to do?  All they needed to have happen was for that doll to twist in the wrong way – whether they did it or the Shadow did it on its own – and Sayoko would end up breaking her neck.  It was just like Rise's Shadow, in that it was able to know exactly what they were going to do and when they were going to do it, like those beams had processed everything they were capable of.

Just then, the doors behind them suddenly burst open, revealing an _irate_ Saki on the other side.  Adachi's face lit up like a bulb, especially when he saw Rise up on her feet too.

"Rise!  Use your speakers to distract that thing!" he shouted.  "Saki, crack open the cage!"

Rise still looked winded, but that did not keep her from sending her speakers out toward the doll, practically screaming into her microphone once they had the Shadow surrounded.  Everyone covered their ears as Tsunade stepped up next, daggers of wind shooting out and slicing open the cage.  Sayoko let out a surprised noise as the Shadow suddenly broke in half, managing to grab onto one of the cut wooden bars of the cage as the pieces fell away.

Adachi ran forward then, barreling through fluff and jumping over broken chairs to get under her, just in time for the nurse to lose her grip.  She landed on top of him, and he somehow managed to wrap is arms around her and hold onto her securely, even as he lost his footing on the unstable remains of the table.  The two of them fell backward, Adachi letting out a pained grunt as he hit his head on one of the table boards.  It was a moment before Sayoko finally peered up at him from where her head was pressed against his chest, checking first to see that he was okay, before focusing on his face.

"Hm… my hero," she said, sounding about as worse for wear as she looked.

Adachi flashed a lopsided grin at that.  "Well… you gotta have someone to keep coming back for you, right?"

Sayoko stared at him for a moment, eyes widening slowly as tears crept up, before she broke down, falling back against his chest.  Above them, the Shadow screamed in rage, ripping a beam right out of the roof with one hand and stabbing down at them with it.  Adachi wrapped his arms around her again, rolling out of the way as Kintoki Douji made a grab for the beam, wresting it out of the Shadow's grasp and cracking it over the head with it.  The legs shot down from the roof, trying to wrap around the Persona's neck, only to have Kanji's come up and grab them, ripping them apart.  Take-Mikazuchi swung them around, sending the legs flying into the head of the doll, and to end it all off, Yukiko had Konohana Sakuya set the wooden pieces on fire.

Ashes fell all around Adachi and Sayoko as the Shadow burnt up, and she pulled away from him again, a painful smile on her face over him still trying to cling to her protectively.  He paused a moment, before his face turned a vivid shade of red, trying to say something, but all the smoothness he had shown before seemed to have left him then.  She chuckled at that, pulling the both of them up to their knees as he finally clamped his mouth shut in embarrassment.

"So this is what you all were doing," she stated.  "No one would ever believe this…"

She trailed off as her Shadow reappeared, the same doll as before, only with her pretty clothes singed from the fire.  For a moment, Sayoko looked like she was going to bolt, getting up to her feet and backpedaling.  Adachi got up after her, reaching out for her hand before she could retreat too far.

"Hey… it's okay," he assured her.  "We've all felt alone at some point.  It's not something to be ashamed of."

Sayoko hesitated a moment, before she eased back, no longer looking like she was going to run away.  Adachi held her hand a little longer, making sure she was okay, before letting go and stepping aside, letting her approach her Shadow.  She hesitated as she approached, gingerly reaching out and taking one of the doll's wooden hands in hers.

"…I… really am, very alone," she admitted softly.  "Everyone just comes and goes from my life.  It's always, 'Thank you, nurse,' and I never see or hear from them again.  I feel like I've wasted my life, like I was just strung up for anyone to make me dance whenever they wanted.  I was so desperate to feel something other than that crushing disappointment of how my life had gone so far, that I involved myself with someone I shouldn't have…"

She trailed off, letting the doll's hand go in favor of wrapping her arms around herself.  The Shadow let out a faint noise, reaching over and wrapping her arms around her other self, petting her hair.

"I just want someone that will be there for me," the Shadow said softly.  "I just want someone to see me for me."

Sayoko nodded weakly, even as her Shadow disappeared into a flurry of blue sparkles.  An image of a masked woman briefly appeared, jointed arms sweeping wide to reveal she was attached to some kind of command station, before becoming the Devil Arcana card.  She looked up as the card came down to her, reaching up for it to return to the sea of her unconscious, before she fell to her knees.

Adachi was at her side in the next moment, holding her by her shoulders as she wavered unsteadily.  She looked up at him then, a faint smile coming to her face.

"Well, detective… looks like you're the one that gets to take care of me this time."

Adachi opened his mouth, before closing it almost right away.  He tried again, but the only thing he could manage to do was turn a healthy shade of red again, especially as Saki snickered from by the door.


	35. Interlude

I was pretty damn exhausted by the time I left the hospital, but of course I couldn't go back home just yet.  Of course there would be someone else, of course there was going to be another person we couldn't save.  It was clear that our murderer wasn't just relying on his accomplice; he went out of his way to prove that he could be everywhere and anywhere at once, and that he could anticipate our every move.

I hated it.

The body had already been pulled down from the utility pole by the time I got to the scene, and my partner spared a moment to smack me upside the head for being so late.  Not that I could blame Dojima-san at that time, not after hearing the victim report.

"…Minami Eri, from the city," one of the cops started explaining as I grabbed at my head.  "Young woman, married a big shot business man who had a kid from a previous marriage."

"Related to any of our previous victims?" Dojima asked, looking puzzled, like he was about to suspect another copy cat killing.  The cop just shook his head in answer, and my partner reached up to run a hand over his face.

"We didn't even receive a note this time…" he muttered, and I felt myself tense up.  No, we had definitely received a note, just the murderer was more focused on his real opponent now…


	36. Chapter Twenty-eight – Mother

It was finally _that_ moment; everything he had struggled through day and night for the past few months was all boiling down to this moment.  He was standing with his back to him, unawares that he had caught him red handed, and if he had his way, he would not know until the last possible moment.  Quietly, he reached over, pulling his weapon from its hiding place and holding it tight in his hand, the familiar feeling of the grip setting his mind more at ease.  He could do this, there was nothing stopping him from catching the criminal now…

"So it was you, this entire time…"

The criminal let out a yelp of surprise, whirling around and pressing his back up against the counter, eyes widening as he knew he was busted.  He let out a triumphant noise, brandishing his weapon at him, the end wobbling back and forth.

"You're the one that's been stealing my coffee, Teddie!"

Teddie scrambled back, desperately looking for something, anything, that could counter the spatula Adachi had pointed at him.  His hands finally shot out, grasping onto a wooden spoon and holding it out in challenge.

"You'll never take me alive!"

Adachi let out a determined noise, lashing out at the bear with his kitchen weapon of choice.  Teddie let out a yelp as he defended himself, sliding along the counter in an effort to escape.  He was not going to let him get out the easy way though, and cut off his escape route out of the apartment, forcing the bear to head back toward the bedroom instead.  Teddie scrambled to get the upper hand, trying to put some distance between the two of them in an effort to dart out when he had the room, but Adachi was not letting him get away.  He blocked off his exit, poking him in the chest with his spatula, getting a yelp of surprise as Teddie looked down.  Big mistake: he used the distraction to whirl the bear around, pinning an arm behind his back as he threw him against the wall.

"Your thieving days are over, bear!"

"You can't do this!" Teddie wailed.  "I demand a lawyer!"

Adachi rolled his eyes, wondering where the hell he picked that one up from, when his cell phone went off.  He turned around, plopping back against Teddie and pressing him against the wall as he answered.

"Adachi."

"Adachi-san?" Saki's voice came over the phone as Teddie started yelping and flailing.  It was loud enough for her to hear, because she did not sound very certain when she continued.  "Uh… are you free right now?"

"Sure, what's going on?" he asked, elbowing Teddie in the back.

"My father asked me to help with a shipment we just got back at the store," she explained.  "He's trying to reopen now that the media hype has gone down, but it's too much for me to get done in time before work."

"I can head down," he assured her, glancing back at Teddie.  "I'll bring Teddie along."

Teddie let out another wail at that, and he could almost picture Saki shaking her head in exasperation as she replied, “Good, I think he has a shift with me today anyway.  Come over as soon as you can."

"No fair!" Teddie protested as Adachi hung up.  That just earned him another elbow in the back.

"It's plenty fair," he retaliated.  "Now go get changed into something you don't mind getting dirty.  You're doing some work."

Adachi got off of him, and Teddie retaliated with a pout, before going over to the closet to pull out some of the clothes he had collected over the last few months.  He started pulling his shirt off once he found something he liked, getting a yelp out of the detective.

"The bathroom, Ted!" he snapped.  "How many times do I have to tell you to change in _the bathroom!?"_

Teddie yelped, gathering up his things to bolt for the bathroom as Adachi planted a hand over his face in exasperation.  He really needed to do something about Teddie's naivety; when he first had the misfortune of seeing Teddie naked, instead of immediately ushering him to the bathroom like he _should have,_ he had to go and point out that his penis was missing.  That led to a long and painful discussion about what a penis was and what it was used for… so of course the next time Teddie forgot what modesty was, he had grown one.

He did _not_ know what he was going to do with this bear.

They left for Konishi Liquors once Teddie was changed, huddled together under Adachi's big umbrella.  It was raining again that day, and more than once during the week Adachi found himself giving a paranoid eye to the TV, never mind that they had already saved Sayoko and no one else had been kidnapped since Eri Minami's death a few days ago.  The town had settled into an uneasy sort of calm, where very few people wanted to go out, even when the weather was nice.  He was surprised to even see the Moel gas station attendant out and about, doing his job like the rain did not bother him in the slightest, though that was the only person he saw as they made their way down the shopping district main street.

"Sensei?" Teddie asked, huddling a little closer to him as they passed by the empty hobby shop.  "Is this place always this quiet?"

"Not… this quiet, no," Adachi admitted.  "People are just scared, I think."

Teddie glanced down at his shoes.  "…because people keep dying in my world."

Adachi glanced down at him, before resting a hand on his head, mussing up his blonde hair.  It was not Teddie's fault, and he knew he knew that, but Adachi also knew that it did not make the reality of the situation any easier for him.  He buried his face against the detective's side as he let out a soft sigh, letting his hand move down to pat his back.

"It'll be okay, Ted," he assured him.  "We'll catch this guy."

Teddie nodded, pulling himself together as the store came into view.  Just as they were about to head in, the sound of a faint squeak, followed by a crash came from the other side of the street.  Adachi turned to see a girl with a kerchief pulling back her blue hair disentangling herself from her bike, the wheel bent at an odd angle and clearly unusable now.  He motioned for Teddie to go on without him, before crossing over to help her up.

"Hey, are you all right?"

The girl looked up at him wordlessly, and Adachi paused, trying to figure out where he had seen her before.  After a moment, she gave a nod, picking up her bike and starting to roll it back down the street.  He stared after her, a slightly bewildered look on his face at her lack of reaction, and in that moment she turned back around to him, beckoning him to follow after her.

Perplexed, Adachi hurried to catch up, looking her over to make sure she was okay, since she had yet to say anything.  Other than a couple scrapes on her legs, she did not seem to be hurt, unless she was and it was too painful for her to say anything?  He dismissed that thought as soon as it came to his head; that was a bit of a stretch…

He continued down the street with her in silence, but he had to pause a moment when they passed by the shrine.  Just before they got to the cross street, Adachi could feel a pair of eyes focused intently on him.  He whirled around, trying to see who it was, but there was nothing behind him.  Rubbing at the back of his neck, he hesitantly turned back around, hurrying to catch up with the girl again, only to find she had crossed the street, to where the Aiya Chinese Diner was.  She was starting toward the back alley, pushing her broken bike along, but she paused, motioning for him to go inside before continuing.

Adachi came to a stop, scratching at the back of his head in confusion.  Was she inviting him to lunch or something?  For what?  He did not exactly do anything.  He could not really say no to Aiya's food, however, and ended up going in, sitting down at the counter.  It was an awkward few minutes that he sat there, waiting for her to come in through the front door.  He kept taking glances back at it, so it was more than a little surprising when there was a sudden _thump_ on the counter.

He jumped, whirling around, only to see a massive pile of meat in a bowl sitting in front of him.  His eyes widened in shock, before he looked up, seeing the girl from before decked out in an apron.  Oh, so _this_ was where he had seen her before; she was always so quiet, or he was so caught up in doing something else, that he never really took notice she was the server at the diner.

"Service," she finally said, "for helping me."

"But I didn't really do anything…" Adachi protested, before looking down at the huge pile of meat in front of him.  How exactly was he supposed to finish this?  How could _anyone_ finish such a colossal nightmare? It had to take some understanding of one's limits, and knowledge to control their pace, not to mention courage to face the unrelenting tide of beef, and diligence to persevere.  He was pretty sure he was lacking in _all_ of those essential skills; there was no way he was ever going to finish this!

Hesitantly, he took up a pair of chopsticks, glancing back at the girl, before poking at the egg on top.  Well… if it was a thank you for giving her a hand up, he could not exactly say no, could he?

"Thank you for the meal…" he began, his voice wavering, before the tackled the meat pile.

Ten minutes in, he still could not see the rice…

Twenty minutes in, and he was starting to suspect his bowl was a portal to the meat dimension…

After a half hour of trying to tackle the stack of meat, Adachi had to put down his chopsticks, a hand going to his stomach.  That was way more meat than he had ever seen in his life, not to mention attempted to eat, and he swore he would be sick if he even continued to try.  The girl had been serving other customers as he made his attempt, and she came back to him once it was clear he was not going to continue.

"That will be three thousand yen."

Adachi almost gagged.  "I thought you said it was a service!?"

Her expression did not change, and after a moment, he just let out a sigh.  "…can I at least take the leftovers home?"

She handed him over a to-go box as he fished out some money, reluctantly handing it over.  Her expression was even on him as she accepted it, and her lack of emotion almost reminded him of Seito, only much more extreme.

"It's difficult, isn't it?" she asked.

"Hunh?"

She did not seem bothered by his confusion; in fact, she just nodded as if he had actually answered her.

"Keep going at it," she continued.  "Come back and try again."

She disappeared into the back at that, and the old man that usually took the orders let out a chuckle, drawing Adachi's attention to him.

"Ahhh, looks like Aika-chan likes you, Mr. Detective."

Adachi let out a grunt at that.  "How can you tell…?" he asked before he could stop himself.

The man just laughed, amused, and he found himself glancing back at where the girl, Aika, had disappeared into the back room.  Liked him, hunh?  She did not even know him; what was there she could like?

Adachi headed out of the restaurant, leftovers in hand, and glanced around.  The rain was still falling fairly steadily, but a few more people were coming out.  The gossipy housewives were chatting as they walked down the street, though they paused when they saw him, waving and saying hello.  Adachi raised a hand back to them, just as he could see Kanji's mother peering out of her shop to check the weather across the street.  She gave him a friendly smile as the rain slowly started to clear up, and others started to come out on the street, giving him a friendly wave, or a, "Hello detective!" as they passed by him.  It left him standing there at the entrance to the diner, silently in awe of how many people just _knew_ him, and knew him enough to be friendly to him, to like him.  For a moment, he could not fathom why, but it was because he lived there; he lived in Inaba and he helped the people.

He was part of this town, and it brought a feeling to his chest as warm as the sun that was breaking through the clouds.

After a moment, Adachi turned to finally go to Saki's place, when he heard a faint _yip_ coming from behind him.  He turned around, before looking down to see a fox sitting there, wearing a bib… and holding a very familiar wallet in its mouth.  Stupidly, Adachi's hand went to his pocket to check, only to give the fox enough time to run off with his wallet.

"Hey!  Get back here!"

Adachi went chasing after the fox, clutching his leftovers as he hoofed it down the streets, pursuing the animal all the way to the flood plain.  He lost sight of it just by the river bed, and he let out a curse, already imagining the hell he was going to catch for losing his wallet to an _animal…_

He was dragged out of his misery by the sound of a faint sniffle coming from by the river, and he glanced down the way to see a little kid huddled up on himself, staring down into the water.  Adachi frowned, taking in how soaked through the kid was, and wondering just how long he had been out in the rain before it cleared up.  Forgetting about the fox for a moment, he headed over to him, pulling off his jacket and crouching down to wrap it around him.

"Hey, kiddo, what are you doing out here?"

He did not expect an answer, and he did not get one either, outside of a faint sniffle.  Adachi looked up, trying to see if there was someone around; someone that might have gotten hurt or something, just anything that would have given the kid a reason to be out here like this.

"Where's your mom?" he finally asked.

That got him a response; the kid jerked away from him.  "My mom is dead!"

Adachi backed off a little at that, letting out a faint grunt.  "Sorry…" he muttered, hesitating to do much else.  "What's your name, kid?"

It was a moment before he responded: "…Minami Yuuta."

_Oh._

Adachi flinched internally, remembering that the report had said Eri Minami married into a family that already had a young child.  It was not that big of a mystery why the kid was out here alone now; he had lost one mother for reasons he did not know, and now he just had his second mother killed and left dangling from a utility pole.  He ran a hand over his face, before resting it on the kid's shoulder, trying to be comforting, despite the fact that he really did not know what to do here.  Handling victim's families was still, sadly, a weak point of his.

Yuuta sniffled again, rubbing at his face.  "What do you even care anyway?"

"Uh…" Adachi began, "I'm a detective, and… I'm kinda on your mother's case."

The kid shot a severe look at him, before he suddenly pounced on him, beating his fists against Adachi's chest.  He let out a yelp, trying to hold him back as the kid started crying.

"Then why are you here?!" he yelled at him.  "Why aren't you looking for the guy that killed her!?"

"H-hey, calm down!" Adachi yelped, but Yuuta kept going at him until he eventually ran out of steam, hanging limply from his hands.  He sobbed loudly, rubbing at his face with an arm, and Adachi set him back down, rubbing at his back, not really sure what else he could do in this situation.

It was a long moment before Yuuta finally calmed down, though he was still sniffling softly.

"…she wasn't my real mom, you know," he said softly.  "Dad married her and left her with me."  He curled up on himself, his small hands pulling Adachi's jacket tight around him.  "She hated it here, but I know she was trying hard, even if she was only doing it for dad.  I don't think he cares… he just called long enough to make sure I had a babysitter now that she's…"

Adachi paused, still not sure how to respond to the kid.  He used to hate dealing with victims and surviving relatives; with the moping and the whining about how bad off they were after whatever happened.  He was such an idiot for it, though; now he wished he had paid more attention, so at least he knew what to do to help this kid.

"Parents are… weird, like that," he said softly.  "Sometimes they get so caught up in their own lives.  Sometimes they don't realize their own behaviors seem weird, even to family.  Your dad's just… trying to deal with this the only way he knows how, just like you are."

Yuuta glanced up at him, before giving a solemn nod, his face screwing up as he struggling not to start crying again.

"…I want her back," he murmured.  "I was so mean to her… I want to apologize.  I want to call her mom…"

Adachi smiled softly, reaching over to give his shoulder a squeeze again.  "She knows you do, kiddo."

Yuuta sniffed again, before he shuffled closer so he could press his face against Adachi's chest, shuddering slightly as he started crying again.  He watched the kid, awkwardly patting at his back, before he let out a soft sigh, wrapping his arm around him in a half hug as he let him cry his eyes out.  It was a long time before he finally pulled away, looking tired, but despite that it seemed like a huge weight had been lifted off his shoulders.

"Thanks," he said, "I… needed that."

Adachi flashed him a lopsided smile.  "Things like this aren't easy, kiddo.  It's better to let it out, instead of keeping it all bottled up.  That'll just make you explode."

Yuuta nodded, before he pulled Adachi's jacket off, offering it back to him.

"Thanks, Mr. Detective.  I'm gonna go home now."

"Do you need help getting back?"

Yuuta finally smiled, shaking his head.  "I can make it back on my own," he said, before he puffed out his chest.  "I've gotta be a big responsible guy now.  That way both my moms can be proud of me, right?"

Adachi chuckled, taking his jacket back.  "Yeah; looks like you'll do fine with that."

Yuuta grinned, before hurrying off, leaving Adachi with the usual warm feeling in his chest and something new to mull over.  After a moment he let out a sigh, moving to get up from where he had fallen over when the kid starting pounding on him.  He stopped when he heard a familiar _yip,_ and he whipped his head around to see the fox sitting next to him, his wallet in its mouth.  It knelt down, dropping the wallet off next to him, before sitting down, like it expected a treat.

Adachi just snatched his wallet away from the critter, staring at it warily, but the fox did not do anything to grab it back.  If anything, it looked extraordinarily proud of itself, and he glanced from where the fox was, to where Yuuta had been sitting.

"…did you know he was out here?"

_"Yip!"_

Adachi stared, raising an eyebrow.  That… was a frighteningly intelligent fox; so it stole his wallet and led him out here so someone would help Yuuta out, hunh…  After a moment, he let out a sigh, pulling out his leftovers, and popping open the staggering collection of meat.

"…can you eat ridiculously greasy meat?"

_"Yip!"_

The fox edged itself a little closer to him, and Adachi smiled faintly, tossing it some of the meat.  The fox caught it easily in its mouth, munching on it as its tail swished back and forth happily.  Adachi grinned, going to give it some more, when he paused a moment.

"Next time though?  Find a different way to get my attention."

_"Yip!"_

That warm feeling was back in his chest for the third time that day, and it left him staring at the fox in mute surprise.  What the hell… now he was forming Social Links with animals?  What next, someone's pet would have a Persona?  He let out a sigh, tossing the fox some more of the meat, before reaching over to rub at its head.

~.oOOo.~

> Sorry I didn't stop by; I got pulled   
> away.

Adachi had returned to his apartment once he had parted ways with the fox, the contents of his to-go box a lot lighter now.  The events of that afternoon still weighed heavily on his mind, especially what happened with Yuuta.  He did not end up going to Saki's place, and had to send her an apology once he got back.

Fortunately, it seemed her phone was cooperating for once, because her answer came back quickly.

> that's okay teddie was a big help
> 
> are you okay you never txt

Was he okay?  Yeah, he always was; once he cleared his mind, he would not feel like his head was heavier than his body.

> I'll be fine.  Make sure Teddie doesn't   
> waste his money on sweets again for me.

Adachi waited for her confirmation before he flipped his phone closed… then flipped it open, staring at the home screen.  He hesitated, fighting with himself, before he started stabbing in a number that he knew very well, never mind he had not dialed it in months.  He held the phone to his ear, listening to the ringing, half hoping the person on the other side would not pick up.

"Hello?"

Of course they did, and Adachi hesitated again, mouth working, but no sound coming out.

"Hello?"

He forced himself to let out a breath, shaking his head.

"…hi, Mom."


	37. Chapter Twenty-nine – High Heels and Pretty Legs

He did not like entering the Velvet Room and finding it empty.  It felt wrong somehow to see the table there with no one behind it or to the side, and he had to frown as he leaned forward, taking notice of the scraps of paper left behind.

"'Out to lunch'?" he asked the open air.  "Do you guys even _eat_ food?"

He grumbled under his breath, pushing the note aside to see the other paper had drawings of Arcana on it again, with a town and a blue haired girl for the Sun, a little brown haired boy by the Hanged Man, and what he guessed was supposed to be a Fox by the Hermit.  A sigh escaped from him, and he shook his head, never mind the smile that was threatening to creep up on his face.

"…you still suck at drawing, Michael."

At least this time he could not get hit by a book for saying that.

~.oOOo.~

_"ADA—"_

Adachi cut off the bellow he was beginning to expect every time he walked in the door, managing to both make it over to Dojima's desk and hand him over his coffee before he could finish screaming his name.  His partner paused, looking like he was not sure what to do with the younger detective's quick thinking, before his eyes dropped down to the steaming cup of coffee being offered to him.  An awkward moment passed, before he reached out to take it, pausing to take a sip.  Adachi must have finally mastered how Dojima liked his coffee, because he let out a pleased sounding grunt, grabbing up a folder.

"You're needed again," he finally said.  "School's specially requesting you for additional security during the festival this weekend.  Must have left quite an impression on them during that Iwatodai trip."

Adachi just let out a nervous laugh at that, already starting to feel his skin crawl.  Oh man, he had a feeling he knew who exactly personally requested him and why…  Still, as much as he would have liked to say there was no way in hell he was putting himself in the cougar's sights again, he accepted the folder that Dojima was holding out to him, flipping it open to see details on the school grounds and how the festival was being operated that year.  This was going to be a new experience for him; he never attended any of his own school festivals, preferring to sit in the study rooms and do exactly that.

"Looks like everyone's still uneasy about it being a student that's responsible for the murders," he began.  "Can't say I blame them, especially since it's been quiet again the last few weeks."

Dojima let out a grim sounding grunt, occupying his mouth with his coffee as Adachi shuffled around to his desk.  He flopped down in his chair, frowning when it did not let out the same squeak he was used to hearing.  It was enough to get him to pause, looking back, only to see the ridiculously high back was gone.

"Oh, I had your chair replaced for you," Dojima said, noticing the funny looks Adachi was making.  "You looked like a little kid in that other thing; I was tired of seeing you looking that pathetic."

"Th-thanks…" Adachi replied, though he was not sure if he should be thanking him or not.

Instead of dwelling on it, he turned his attention right back to the folder, flipping through it and the list of different activities that would be going on.  His eyes immediately fell on to class 2-2, which was supposed to be Seito's class.  Apparently they were doing some kind of Group Date Café; man, poor shy kid.  He was going to have to be sure to check in on him to make sure he was not huddled in a corner freaking out.

After a few moments of looking over the information presented to him, he let out a satisfied noise, thumping it closed.  He was going to have to get over to the school to get a perfect idea of the layout and what he would be in for.  Of course, the best time to do that would be after classes were done for the day, so that meant he had plenty of time to swing around the hospital and check up on a certain nurse.

Adachi was able to make his escape with only a few questions from Dojima, foregoing his car (that had been letting out some kind of putrid smoke by the time he made it into work that morning), and instead making the short jog to the hospital.  Once he checked in, he headed immediately to the room that Sayoko was supposed to be in… though of course it was empty.  A sigh escaped from him as he planted a hand over his face; dammit, not again…

He went looking for her, though thankfully he did not have far to go.  Sayoko was just down the hall, looking over a patient chart carefully, despite the fact that she looked like she was going to faint any moment.  A sigh escaped from Adachi as he approached, reaching over to help brace her up.

"Shouldn't patients be recovering in bed?"

She let out a startled noise, turning toward him.

"I'm fine… I'm just a little wobbly," Sayoko insisted, clutching her usual clipboard to her chest.  "I don't need to be confined to a bed for so long."

"Maybe not in bed, but you still shouldn't be working…" Adachi pointed out.  She moved to step away from him, as if she were trying to prove that she was just fine, only she wobbled unsteadily, forcing him to reach out for her again.  "See, you can barely walk around like this."

"But I might be able to save someone's life," she protested, even as Adachi took the clipboard away, trying to lead her back to her room.  "I need to do what I can…"

"And if you keep exhausting yourself like this, you're not going to be able to do much," Adachi said firmly, not letting go of her until they were back in the room she was supposed to be recovering in.  Even then, he didn't stop until they were both seated on the bed, never mind the huffy expression on her face as she sat next to him.

A bit of a smile crept up on his face as he sat there, watching her for a moment.  "I thought you said I was the one that got to take care of you this time?"

Sayoko glanced at him sidelong, before leaning up against him, a sly smile creeping onto her face.

"Mm… that's right, I did say that, didn't I?" she purred at him, and Adachi ended up letting out an awkward noise as she leaned a little closer, resting a hand on his chest.  He swallowed, his face going from normal to red in record time; uh oh, this was going places he… admittedly did not mind them going, but…!

His hands came down, grabbing her shoulders and pushing back gently.

"You know… y-you don't need to do that.  You don't need to just because I saved your life."

Sayoko paused again, staring up at him, before she let out a sigh, leaning back again.

"…I'm sorry," she apologized, a faint smile coming to her face.  "I suppose it's… still there, that need for someone to stay.  I guess I thought I could work it off, so it would go away faster."

"It's not going to just go away overnight, it's part of you," Adachi explained, matching her expression.  "'Sides, I also said I was going to keep coming back, didn't I?"

Sayoko glanced up at him again, that smile of hers much less sly that time, before she shuffled over just enough so she could lean against Adachi's shoulder.  A bit of a lopsided smile came to his face as that familiar feeling of warmth spread through him, and he tilted his head down so he could rest it on top of hers.

~.oOOo.~

It was later than he planned when Adachi finally made it over to the high school.  By then, most of the students had already left for the day, and the hallways were quiet.  Really, he _should_ have headed right for the faculty office to see if any of the staff was still around, and he had fully intended to do just that eventually.  Only problem was he found himself distracted by the student community board on his way, proudly proclaiming signups for a Miss Yasogami Student Pageant.

"Is this what kids do for their festivals these days…?" he muttered to himself, eyeing the list.  He ended up letting out an awkward squawk, as the first name he saw on the list was "Noriko Kashiwagi".  Oh man… what was it going to take for her to learn anything?  Adachi paused a moment, looking back and forth as he tried to decide on what to do.  He _could_ just ignore it, but…

Finally, he shuffled around in his pockets, pulling out his pen and jotting down a few extra names onto the list.  Hopefully she would take defeat at the hands (or rather, bodies) of some actual teenagers as a growing experience.  Well, assuming all the girls did not remove their names as soon as they saw them the next morning.  Hopefully he would not get caught doing this as well; Naoto could not do handwriting analysis by eye, could she…?

Ah, whatever; it would be worth it for everyone involved in the end, right?

~.oOOo.~

Saki's scream echoed through the school that morning, to the point where students in the other building could probably hear her.  She was standing by the student community board, rigid as a rod, and looking like she was about ready to break the board in half.  Of course, the noise drew Naoto and Rise's attention from their lockers, exchanging looks with each other, before going to see what the commotion was about.  It did not take them long to see what was wrong, and Naoto was letting out a strangled noise just as Yukiko came to join them as well.

"Who…!  Who…?!" Saki demanded, so enraged she barely had the voice for anything else.  Rise let out a thoughtful noise, peering at the sign up list for the Miss Yasogami Pageant, before her expression brightened slightly.

"Maybe Seito-kun signed us up," she said in a sing song voice, before her expression dropped.  "…though he didn't need to sign all of you up if he just wanted to see me in the pageant."

Saki's expression fell as well, fixing the young former idol with the blandest expression she could muster as Yukiko hugged her arms around her torso uncomfortably.

"You don't think Teddie snuck in here and signed us up, did he?" she asked, glancing back and forth between the other girls.  Saki groaned at the mention of the bear as Naoto peered a little closer at the sign up list, her eyes narrowing.

"Ugh, that bear was asking how he could 'score' while at work yesterday," she grumbled.  "I'm not even sure he really understands what that means, or if Adachi-san bothered to explain."

Naoto narrowed her eyes further at the mention of Adachi's name, but did not say anything, instead straightening herself out.

"…is there any way we can back out of this?" she asked stiffly.

"No… Kashiwagi said that because of all the problems last year, once someone signed up, they had to go through with it," Yukiko explained.  Naoto stiffened further, reaching up to pull her hat down lower over her eyes and trying desperately hard not to shake in rage.

"Are you okay, Naoto-kun?" Rise asked, a worried note creeping into her voice.  Naoto forced herself to let out a breath, trying to let some of her tension go out with it, but it took a visible amount of effort for her to do so.

"I'll be fine," she finally said.  "Rest assured, I will do whatever it takes to make certain the culprit pays for this transgression."

The other girls exchanged glances, almost worried for the person that had signed them up.  After a moment, however, Rise broke away from them, a bit of a sly look coming to her face.

"Well… if it _was_ Seito and not Teddie…" she began, shuffling around her pockets for a pen.  After all, there was another signup sheet for a pageant on the community board, and she jotted three names down on it before anyone could stop her.  Saki peered over at it, a hand going to her mouth as she tried not to laugh.

"Why…?" she began, just as Yukiko started struggling against hysterical laughter.

Rise winked at them both.  "Well, just in case for Seito-kun, and he's been hanging around Ichijo-kun _way_ more than me lately," she explained.  "Oh, and I didn't want Kanji-kun to feel left out.  Besides, you know how he is; he'll flex his muscles and be all, _'Let's do this!'"_

She demonstrated, striking a very Kanji-like pose that had Yukiko losing the fight against her hyena laughter and Naoto cracking the barest of smiles.

~.oOOo.~

So far, the only thing bad about being on patrol duty during the Yasogami High school festival was that he had a bear tagging along for the ridiculousness.

Adachi had to keep a firm hand on Teddie to keep him from bolting off at the sight of the least little shiny thing, letting out a sigh every time he nearly strangled him in the process.  He knew it was a lot to absorb, but did he really need to go shooting off every time he saw some new food or game to play?  Seriously, this bear…

"Hey, chill out, will you?" he finally demanded after one time Teddie nearly pulled his arm off.  "I've gotta be working while I'm here; I can't keep an eye on you and an eye on everyone else too."

Teddie turned up to him, his blonde hair looking like it was standing on end as he puffed his cheeks out.

"Sensei, you've gotta trust me more!" he exclaimed.  "How am I ever going to learn anything if you keep me back all the time?!"

The shouting got some stares from the teenagers wandering the halls around them, and Adachi let out a faint groan, planting a hand on his forehead.  Was this Teddie's version of a teenage rebellion?  He was too young to be dealing with this.

"All right, fine," he began, "I wanna check in with Seito at the Group Date Café.  After we do that, you're on your own.  And you better not cause any trouble!"

Of course, the last part of what he said was drowned out by Teddie throwing up his hands in excitement, nearly bolting off without Adachi toward the Café.  The detective let out another groan, wondering what he had just agreed to unleash on the school as he followed behind him, climbing the stairs and heading over to class number 2-2.

Adachi encountered Yukiko first, standing awkwardly outside of the classroom.  She was waving a small flag with male and female symbols on it, trying to encourage people passing by to come into the café with no luck.  The fact that the booth was so unpopular bothered her was obvious, but even still she brightened at the sight of the two of them.

"Adachi-san, I didn't know you'd be here," she said as Teddie darted right in, probably hoping to see some girls inside.

"Yeah, I was asked to patrol while the festival is going on," he explained.  "So far, things seem pretty peaceful; a lot different from what I imagined."

"Yes, well…" Yukiko began, trailing off as she glanced around at the teenagers sticking together in groups.  Definitely no one except the occasional teacher was traveling the hallways alone.  "With this crowd, everyone's taking some kind of precautions," she finished, glancing back into the classroom.

Adachi peered in over her head, not surprised to see Seito there, trying to make himself as small as possible at one of the tables, despite Rise next to him cuddling up against his arm.  Kanji was there too, obviously just there to check in on Yukiko, and got drawn in to keep them both company.  Other than Teddie bouncing around and generally being himself, the room was completely empty.

"Would you like to stay awhile, Adachi-san?" Yukiko asked after a moment.  "I could call one of the teachers over; we could attempt one successful group date."

Adachi held up his hands and backed away quickly, shaking his head.  Oh, and he _knew_ which teacher would answer that call.

"N-no thanks.  My tastes are a little too mature for teenagers," he stammered lamely, muttering a quick something about needing to get back to work, before making a hasty retreat.

He made his way down the hall and out of sight before he stopped, letting out a relieved noise.  Not that he thought Yukiko would try and drag him into something against his will… but sometimes he just did not know when it came to the girls.  Better to play it safe than sorry, right?

The sound of pottery rattling drew Adachi's attention away from his own worries, and he looked over to see a display of historical items from around the area.  Two guys were there, one dressed in the school uniform, the other in the gym uniform.  The one in the school uniform was leaning against the table the artifacts were on, glancing down at them as if to make sure he had not ruined any, though really it looked like he was just using it as an excuse to not look at the other kid.

"C'mon, man, talk to me!" the kid in the gym uniform demanded.  "You've been out of it almost all damn year, but 'you're fine', 'nothing's wrong'?  That's a load of bullshit."

The kid in the school uniform did not reply, instead gripping the edges of the table harder.  His friend backed off a little, a desperate, almost pleading expression on his face.

"C'mon, Kou.  We've been friends since almost forever," he continued.  "Can't you trust me?"

For a moment, it looked like the kid in the school uniform was going to reply, but whatever response he had, Adachi did not get to hear it.  He was suddenly grabbed from behind, and before he could try and react to the rough treatment, felt a familiar pair of breasts swallowing up his arm.

_Dammit…!_

"Mm… there you are, detective…" Kashiwagi purred, dragging him away from the display and up the stairs to the third year hallway, despite his loud protests against it.  She did not stop until they were standing outside of a velvety blue tent in the middle of the hall, a sign at the top proclaiming the stall as The Long-Nosed Fortune Teller.  Adachi could feel his eyebrows twitching as he took in the sight of it; just how much worse was this patrol detail going to get…?

"Isn't this exciting?" Kashiwagi continued to purr at him, and he fought not to let out a gagging noise.  At least when he glanced down he saw that her shirt was buttoned properly – small progress was better than no progress, he guessed.  "I saw this little stand and I just had to come find you!"

"L-lucky me…" Adachi muttered under his breath, just as a familiar tune started to waft out from inside the tent, sounding like it was being played over an old time record player.

"Such excitement from a guest," a familiar voice loomed out from the tent, and Adachi could feel his stomach hit his shoes.  Just _what_ was he doing here?!  He was supposed to be out to lunch, not out to troll!  "And what service can I offer a teacher of this school?"

Kashiwagi let out a devious sounding chuckle, hugging his arm closer to her chest.  For a moment he had to wonder if there was any chance he could cut off his arm to make an escape, and just reattach it later on… or heck, maybe even re-grow it like lizards could do with their tails.

"Tell me all about this man's love life," she finally answered, squeezing his arm even harder.  "I want to know how many women I have to beat off of him."

Adachi let out a groan, planting a hand over his face, especially as a dark chuckle came from the tent.

"Oh, you could say I'm an expert on that subject…" came the reply, and Adachi just knew he was going to strangle himself a limo attendant in a few seconds.  "Essentially, he is hopeless.  Any romantic bond with him is doomed to failure.  Even if the line of women is long, they will only disperse in the end; you may as well not waste your time."

Adachi's eyebrow twitched at that, even as Kashiwagi finally released his arm in disappointment.  Now he was torn between wanting to thank the little shit inside the tent, or punch his face in; not a position he _ever_ wanted to be in.

~.oOOo.~

As soon as Adachi made it to the school for the second part of the festival, he knew he was going to be in trouble.  Right on the gate around the school was a large poster advertising the Miss Yasogami High School Pageant, with a massive picture of "Risette" taking up the majority of the image.  All the other girls were there as well, along with Kashiwagi and another larger girl he did not recognize.  Still, the fact that _none of them_ backed out after he had signed them all up was… worrying, to say the least.

Thoughts of how dead he might be soon were dashed out of his head once he entered the building, however.  His eyes immediately fell on a little girl in pink standing by the lockers, looking around in uncertainty as students passed by her, not even noticing her.  Of course, he went right up to her, kneeling down beside her as soon as she noticed him.

"Hey, Nanako-chan; where's your dad?"

Nanako looked away, how upset she was by being left alone obvious.  "Dad said he'd be late, and I can't find big brother anywhere."

Adachi frowned; what was with those two?  Dojima hardly ever seemed to acknowledge Nanako when he was over at the house, and Seito should know better than leaving his little cousin alone.  It was a moment before he nodded to himself, offering her his hand.

"Well, I know I'm not either of them, but I'll take you around for a little while until we find your big bro, okay?"

Nanako glanced back at him, looking unsure for a long moment.  It was awhile before she finally nodded, slipping her tiny hand in his and letting him walk her around the festival.  He was sure to stop for some takoyaki, because what little kid did not enjoy that while they were at a party?  Nanako seemed to appreciate it, munching on it happily as they passed by the different booths.

When they were starting toward the second floor, however, Nanako paused, tugging slightly on Adachi's hand.  He glanced back at her, raising a curious eyebrow, mouth poised to ask what was wrong, but he thought better of it.  She was so shy, it was better to let her get things out on her own, right?

"Adachi-san… is it true dad cares more about criminals than he does me?"

Well, he was not expecting _that;_ Adachi shuffled them out of the way of students that were coming and going, before kneeling down so he was level with her again.

"Who told you that?"

She fell silent again, turning away from him, and Adachi had to keep himself from smacking a hand to his forehead.  Geeze, he was going to need to have a talk with Dojima at this rate; there was no way he could keep on going like he was.  At this rate, his daughter would grow up with nothing… maybe even end up being someone like _him._ There was no way he could let that happen to someone as cute as she was.

"Listen, being a detective isn't easy," he began.  "There are a lot of guys your father and I have to deal with that aren't really the best people."

He reached over to her, taking both her hands in his and giving them a squeeze.

"The reason he focuses more on them is because he needs to protect everyone from them," he explained, before reaching up, poking her nose gently.  "Especially you."

She blinked at that, a smile threatening her face at the nose bop.  "…dad works so hard to protect me?"

"Mmhmm," Adachi replied, nodding and giving her a gentle smile.  "You're his most important thing in this world, Nanako-chan.  He'd never let anything happen to you."

For a moment, she looked uncertain… and then she threw her arms around his neck, hugging him tight as he let out a surprised noise.  He reached up after a moment, rubbing at her back as he tried to peer over at her.

"What brought that on?" he asked when she finally pulled away, only to get a beaming smile in return.

"You're working hard too, right, Adachi-san?" she asked.  "You do your best with dad too then, so everyone gets to stay safe!"

Adachi stared a moment, before a faint smile crept onto his face.  She was so mature… probably more mature than he was, not that that said very much.  He reached to give her hand a squeeze again, and he was about to stand up and suggest they head upstairs, when a scream came from somewhere in the hallway.  His head snapped up, and his first instinct was to pull Nanako close against him.  Instead of any serious threat, however, Saki burst out of the crowd, running right up to him and grabbing his other hand.

"Adachi-san!  There's a problem!" she exclaimed, pulling him up to his feet.  "You have to come with me, quickly!"

"Ah, but—!" Adachi tried to protest, but Saki was stronger than she looked.  He looked back at Nanako, trying to make sure she would follow, but she flashed him a big, brave smile.  She rocked on her heels for a moment, before calling out after him:

"I'll be okay, Adachi-san!  Work hard!"

A bit of a lopsided smile crept onto his face, and he allowed himself to be dragged upstairs.  He noticed quickly they were heading toward class 2-2, which he noted was still empty, and it did not even look like the students bothered to open up the Group Date Café that morning.  He let out a sigh as she pushed open the door, rolling his eyes as he was dragged inside.

"Geeze, what is—?"

The door suddenly thumped closed, followed by a foreboding click.  He stopped dead, chills running up his spine as he took in the scene before him.  Seito, Kanji, and the kid from yesterday were in a corner, dolled up in dresses and looking like they just wanted to curl up in a hole and die.  Rise was hovering over Seito, holding his head steady as she worked on putting his makeup on.  Adachi shifted his eyes over, seeing Naoto and Yukiko standing together, the former holding a hair straightener and what might have been hair extensions, while the other was holding some clothes.  Considering how the boys were all dressed up, he had a feeling he knew what those clothes were.

Adachi tried to back away, but Saki had too tight of a grip on him.  He looked down at her, eyes widening as he took in the devilish look on not only her face, but also Naoto and Yukiko's faces as well.

Oh god no… how did they…!?

"We really need your help, Adachi-san," Naoto said sweetly, as the other two both smiled brilliantly at him.  He could feel his stomach go straight to his feet, and he was truly terrified for the first time in his life.

"We need some more guys for the _other_ pageant we're having here," Saki continued, dragging him over to the other girls.  "You're always so _willing_ to help us out, after all…"

Outside of class 2-2, students that were passing by jumped as a shrill scream came ripping out from within.

~.oOOo.~

_"Ladieeeeeees and gentlemeeeeeeen!"_

The Master of Ceremonies' voice rang out loud over the sounds of cheers from the students that were gathered around the school auditorium.  The stage was decked out with flowers, massive curtains, and a red carpet, and a large poster was set up behind them, advertising the "Miss" Yasogami Pageant.  More of the girls were in the front, cheering and encouraging the MC to bring out the contestants, while most of the guys were in the back, glancing back and forth uneasily.

"We now begin the second day of the school festival with the ever popular _'Miss'_ Yasogami Pageant!" the MC continued. "Let's get right down to it and introduce our first contestant!"

The MC had to pause once more as cheers went up loud, but he took advantage of the distraction to gesture toward the other end of the stage, the pink afro wig on his head bobbing wildly.

 _"She's_ a runaway express train who's Inaba born and bred, and can kill with both _her_ fists and _her_ looks!  Barreling toward us from first year class three, Tatsumi Kanji-chan!"

Kanji did have looks that could kill all right… possibly literally, considering how annoyed he looked as he walked out on stage.  The white dress he had been forced in was reminiscent of Marilyn Monroe, and did little to hide or even compliment his muscled arms and legs.  The blonde wig was really curly and did not frame his square face properly, and the makeup Rise had put on him was overdone to the point of making him look like a clown.  Naturally, there were plenty of jeers and sounds of disgust from the crowd, despite the fact that Kanji looked like he wanted to stage dive and start hitting anything that got in the way of his fists.

"Y-yo," he managed to get out, though it sounded more like a growl.

The MC seemed surprisingly not phased despite the potential explosion standing next to him, and continued on like nothing was wrong.

"After such a strong start, I don't know how much of a chance the others have, but here's our second contestant!" he bellowed into the microphone.  "The eloquent _heiress_ of the most distinguished family in Inaba, _she's_ the _queen_ of the high school basketball court.  Give it up to Ichijo Kou-chan, from second year class one!"

Kou looked absolutely miserable as he wobbled out on stage, looking like he was drowning in the lacy gothic Lolita dress he had been forced into.  The entire auditorium burst into hysterical laughter as he went over to stand next to Kanji, trying to hide his face in the over exaggerated curls of his wig.

"W-what did we do to deserve this…?" he whimpered.

Kanji let out an annoyed noise, folding his arms over his chest.  "Don't think _we_ did anything, considering…"

The MC had to wait for the laughter to die down before he could continue.

"I hope you haven't had enough, because there's more!  Entry number three has the mildly bitter tang of the city, and _she's_ made more girls cry than there are stars in the sky!  Presenting our transfer student from second year class two, Souzen Seito-chan!"

Seito walked out on stage, clutching his hands in front of him and looking like he was going to either scream or faint from embarrassment.  Compared to the other two, he had gotten the least embarrassing of the outfits, seeing as he was wearing the Yasogami girl's uniform, only with a longer skirt than usual.  His makeup was not even all that bad, and could even be described as tasteful, but that still did not help lessen the blow to his dignity, especially with Rise practically cat calling below them.

"…I say after this, we get revenge," he muttered darkly once he came to a stop next to Kou.

"On _who?"_ Kanji grumbled, glancing toward the curtain where the final contestants were waiting to be called.

"We've got a couple last minute entries, folks!" the MC continued once the applause from Seito walking out died down.  "Another city _lady,_ this hero cop took time off from being the guardian angel of our school to strut _her_ stuff!  Please welcome our special guest entry, Adachi Tohru-chan!"

Adachi looked like he was going to cry as he forced himself to walk forward, his knees wobbling the whole way from how he had to walk.  The girls had stuck him an outfit that was uncomfortably close to female police blues, which meant he was forced to wear a pencil skirt.  He felt like his knees were being squeezed together, making it nearly impossible to bend them.  The high heels were doing nothing to help the situation either, and the badge sticking out of his shirt pocket bounced back and forth just like the hair extensions he had been forced to wear as he came to stand awkwardly next to Seito.

The crowd before them was torn between hysterics, cat calls, and enthusiastic applause.  On top of it, Adachi could hear a _very_ familiar voice laughing like he had never heard the man laugh before, and he nearly groaned in exasperation.  Why did Dojima pick _now_ to show up?!

"This is too much… kill me now…" he whimpered, not even bothering to look down the line as Kanji cracked his knuckles.

"And now our final contestant!" the MC shouted over the crowd as the laughter and applause died down.  "A friend of our detective _beauty,_ calling _herself_ 'King of the TV World,' _she's_ a cute, sexy little number!  Give a warm welcome to Teddie-chan!"

Adachi gave a start at that, eyes widening as Teddie came skipping out onto stage, practically sparkling the entire way.  He and the other guys could do nothing but stare as he came to a stop in front of them, wearing a blue dress with a blonde wig that made him the picture perfect image of Alice in Wonderland, something that made Adachi let out an awkward noise.  The audience was completely captivated by the sight of him, especially as Teddie winked at the crowd, blowing everyone a kiss.

"Give me your hearts~!"

Adachi planted a hand over his face in exasperation, trying desperately not to groan.  Just how did this stupid bear get away with this crap…?

They were all forced to stay up on the stage as votes were tallied, which did not help their situation in the slightest.  It was a relief when the MC finally called for attention again, holding up a piece of paper in his hands.

"It looks like we have our winner!" he proclaimed.  "The contestant that stole everyone's hearts: Teddie-chan!"

Teddie was practically doing a dance, jumping up and down in excitement as he bounced to the head of the stage, waving excitedly as everyone cheered.

"As our champion, Teddie-chan will receive a special prize!" the MC continued.  "Later today will be the Miss Yasogami Pageant, with _real_ beauties this time.  Your reward is to be an honorary judge in that pageant."

Teddie paused at that, a devious look coming to his face, and Adachi cast the back of his head a worried look as he chuckled darkly.

"Yes… my plan has succeeded…" he said, before reaching over to the MC, snatching the microphone away from him.  "As honorary judge, I decree that the next pageant… _will be a swimsuit competition!"_

All the boys in the audience erupted into cheers, as Adachi got the distinct pleasure of seeing Saki, Yukiko, Rise, and Naoto stare up at the stage in complete mortification.

~.oOOo.~

Adachi was completely relieved to be back in his suit and tie, and not on the dumb stage, even though he still needed to be in the auditorium.  Practically the entire school was crammed into the room, and there was barely a space left to stand.  Still, he managed to get himself crammed in next to Dojima and Nanako, though it was not the tight fit that made things uncomfortable.  After the fifth time he could feel his partner's eyes on him, Adachi let out an irritable growl.

 _"Anyone_ at the department finds out about this…"

Dojima snorted at that as Nanako peered around her dad, staring at him curiously.

"Adachi-san?" she began.  "Can I ask you something?"

Adachi knelt down slightly, giving her a gentle smile.  "Of course, Nanako-chan.  What is it?"

"The nice fortune teller guy called you something… I was wondering if it was true that you were, um…"

He could already feel the trouble coming; dammit, why was Michael _still here?!_

"Just ignore what that guy says…" he muttered, but Nanako did not seem to hear him, trying to remember what he called him.  Her face suddenly brightened as she remembered, and she blurt out:

"Asinine!"

Dojima barked out a laugh as Adachi looked like he wanted to crawl into a hole and die.  He planted a hand over his face, wondering when people were going to stop treating him like the butt monkey today.

"M-more importantly," he began, quickly changing the subject as he focused on Dojima.  "You're okay with letting your daughter see a swimsuit competition?"

Dojima gave him a disbelieving look.  "You don't really think they're going to force those girls to do that, do you?"

Considering Kashiwagi was in the competition?  Adachi was betting on someone running out and making sure everyone had bathing suits in their size.

"It's been awhile since high school for you, hasn't it?" he asked as Seito finally managed to join them, looking completely exasperated and off his center, like he was going to start twitching and spazzing out any second.  Adachi peered over at him, a curious look on his face, but Seito just shook his head, not looking like he was going to explain what was wrong.

Dojima didn't seem to notice; instead he just gave a nod toward his nephew.

"Oh good, you're here," he began.  "I'll need you to look after Nanako for a few days.  I need to go to the prefectural office."

With that brief explanation, Dojima turned to leave, drawing a surprised noise out of Adachi.

"Wh—alone?" he asked.

"It's something I've gotta handle," Dojima replied without even looking back at them.  "I'll be back for work on Wednesday."

He walked off before Adachi could get another word in edgewise, and he glanced back at Nanako, not at all surprised to see she was upset.  He wanted to try and call back at Dojima, to tell him that his _daughter,_ who clearly _needed him,_ was much more important than whatever the prefecture needed.  Unfortunately, between the crowd pressed around them and the noise, there was no way he could have gotten his partner to turn around.

Adachi let out a frustrated noise, but before he could try and say something to Nanako and Seito, the MC was back on stage, and the crowd burst into excited applause.

"Iiiiiiiit's time for the _real_ Miss Yasogami Pageant!" he shouted into his microphone.  "Please welcome our first contestant, Miss Konishi Saki of third-year class three!"

Saki walked out on stage, and Adachi felt a little guilty for smiling.  She did not look bad at all in her green bikini, with the little sash tied at the side.  Now if she looked more confident, she would be working that look instead of looking like a scared little girl as the boys in the crowd cheered.

"Th-thank you…" she managed to get out, before rushing over to the back of the stage, making room for the next person to come out.

"Next up from our second year class two, Amagi Yukiko-san!"

Yukiko walked out on stage next, and Seito let out a faint noise next to him.  Adachi glanced over to see that he had his hands over Nanako's eyes, but he was having a _really_ hard time looking away from Yukiko and her white bikini with the little skirt for a bottom.  Yukiko herself was having a really hard time looking out at the audience, practically shaking where she stood.

"I-I'm… I'm sorry."

"No, don't be," Seito replied, and Adachi could not help but let out a chuckle.

"Hey, that one's not your girlfriend."

Seito let out a cough, finally turning away from the stage as Yukiko shuffled over to stand next to Saki.

"Next we have a very familiar face!  From first year class two, Kujikawa Rise-chan!"

Rise walked out on stage, clad in an orange bikini with a flower print on it.  Just about everyone in the crowd went crazy with cheering, and Adachi saw her hesitate, almost like she had stage fright.  For a moment, he was worried; she had come here to take a break from her idol career after all.  Being up on that stage probably felt like the same thing all over again.

It was a moment before her hand tightened at her side, a confident expression on her face as she struck a pose.

"Yoohoo!  Risette here!" she exclaimed.

The crowd went _insane_ at that, and Rise gave a cheerful wave before joining the line next to the others.  Even the MC needed a moment to recover from that introduction, a big smile remaining on his face as he continued.

"Next up is our mysterious transfer student, the detective prince herself!  From first year class one, Shirogane Naoto-kun!"

Applause rang out through the auditorium… but then died off when no one came out on stage.  The MC let out an awkward noise, staring off down the stage.

"Uh…Shirogane-kun?"

Silence hung in the air, before Naoto poked her head out from behind the curtain, her face completely beat red.  Adachi was fairly sure he caught a glimpse of a blue strap on her shoulder as she hugged the curtain close to herself, shaking.

"I-I... I can't do this.  I'm sorry!"

She bolted from the stage, and the crowd was a mix of booing and cheering as the MC let out an alarmed noise, begging for her to come back so she would not be disqualified.  Adachi stared for a moment, before he shook his head.  Well, he should not have been surprised, considering how she had reacted during the summer, but…

"I guess I should see if Kanji's passed out from a nosebleed yet…" he muttered as Seito let out a snort.

The large girl from the poster he did not recognize was next, followed by Kashiwagi, though the two of them did not get nearly as much applause as the other girls did.  Excited murmurs went around as votes were taken from the crowd, and it almost felt like an eternity before the final tally was calculated.  A tense silence fell over the crowd as the MC came back on stage, massive pink afro bouncing excitedly.

"The results are in, ladies and gentlemen!" he bellowed, drawing excited applause out of the crowd.  "You guys in the audience seemed to have trouble picking a favorite, but you ladies were practically unanimous.  Our grand prize goes to… Shirogane Naoto-kun!"

The crowd exploded into excited cheers, and Adachi could not help but let out a faint laugh.  She won without even competing?  How did that even work?

Rise's face went through a collection of surprised and confused expressions, obviously caught off guard by the fact that she lost to someone that did not even come out on stage.  Adachi's eyes were on Kashiwagi, however; the large girl next to her looked like she was going to start crying any second, and the flamboyant teacher rested a hand on her arm, a gentle smile on her face.  He was too far away to hear what they were saying, but it must have been something good, because the large girl seemed to brighten.  In fact, Kashiwagi was not acting at all like he thought she would, even going to the other girls and murmuring what had to be encouragement, judging from the surprised smiles she got in return.

Adachi slipped a hand in his pocket, a lopsided smile coming to his face.  Hunh… maybe he did not need to do anything after all…

~.oOOo.~

The school festival was starting to wind down, and Adachi patrolled the school, looking in on the students packing up decorations and displays.  He did not see Rise anywhere, and for a moment he nearly panicked.  Their murderer had not shown a need to go after the victims that survived, but still… he hurried through the school to find her.

He ended up on the roof after going through the other floors, and he finally relaxed when he saw her by the gate surrounding the edge on the far side.  She had her fingers threaded through the chain links, looking out at the town below them like she was lost in thought.  For a moment, he contemplated just leaving her be, but she turned toward him as he was about to go back downstairs.

"Adachi-san…?" she asked, and he stopped at that, letting out a sheepish noise.

"Ah, sorry, if you want to be alone…"

Rise smiled at that, shaking her head.  Adachi approached her then, leaning against the fence by her.

"Are you upset that you lost?" he asked.

She shook her head.  "Not as much as I thought I would be.  I'm actually really glad that Naoto-kun won; maybe it'll help her be more confident."

Rise trailed off, looking uncertain for a moment.

"…you know, I thought I could never go out on stage again," she said softly.  "I almost wanted to run off like Naoto did."

She glanced up at him, and Adachi gave her a small smile, quietly encouraging her to go on.  Rise returned his smile after a moment, though there was a bit of sadness in her eyes.

"You know, I used to be bullied a lot when I was younger," she began.  "I was very shy, and I was alone all the time.  But then a relative sent in an application for me to be an idol, and it passed the first audition.  I wasn't really interested in being an idol, but… I wanted to change my life so much that I was willing to do anything.  When I won, I thought that if I appeared on TV, I'd be able to make so many friends, but…"

She trailed off, before letting out a soft sigh.  "The person that people 'knew' was Risette, and Rise just… didn't exist to any of them.  The 'real me' just got bullied out of existence.  I didn't want to pick up a microphone or go on stage ever again once I managed to escape from it."

Silence hung between them for a moment, before that determined confidence from before appeared on her face.

"But… fighting in the TV like we do, it's given me a different kind of strength," Rise continued.  "I can fight for myself, and I can support everyone at the same time.  I think… that's the sort of positive image I should have gone for as an idol in the first place."

She beamed up at Adachi, before striking a dramatic pose.

"Next spring, Risette is going back to the stage!" she declared boldly.  "But this time, _I'm_ going to take charge of my career.  I'm only going to do the things that I want to do, and let everyone see me for who I am!"

Rise held her pose for a moment, before she let out a breath, folding her hands behind her back.

"Man… that felt so good to get out," she beamed.  "I don't think I would ever have been able to do that if I hadn't met all of you."

Adachi chuckled faintly, shaking his head.  "I guess no matter how bad things get, this whole experience has been good for all of us, hunh?"

She gave a nod, before she went over to his side, clinging to his arm.  "Hey, if I need a bodyguard, I can give you a call, right?"

He snorted at that.  "Yeah, sure, while you're in Inaba."

Rise let out a happy noise, before dragging him back toward the door, even more energetic than she had been in a long time.

"C'mon, Adachi-san!  Everyone's probably looking for us!"


	38. Interlude

I still can't figure out how I ended up back in that place; the place where I fought my Shadow, and that weird Shadow that had appeared later on.  I just remember blinking for a long moment, before looking down and realizing I had a little red ribbon in my hand, like something a girl would have as part of their school uniform.

The atmosphere in the place had changed too.  Where before it felt chaotic and unsteady, it was… peaceful, and as I walked back to go back through the TV, the Shadows did not seem to be around.

I paused once I got back to Teddie's stack of TVs on the stage, looking down at the red ribbon I still had in my hand.  Really, I should have just discarded it, but… well, maybe it would be useful some day?  Besides, I could feel some kind of… power from it?  I wasn't sure; it didn't seem any different from a normal ribbon.  Hell, the only thing that stood out was a curry stain on one of the corners.

I stuffed it into my back pocket, before stepping back into the real world…


	39. Chapter Thirty – Like a Family

Sparks flew in the Velvet Room elevator, lighting up the gloomy atmosphere before they fell harmlessly to the carpeted floor.  It was the usual scene of course, with Adachi struggling desperately to keep up and Michael barely even breaking a sweat, though this time it was not an epic battle between Personae.  This time they were just going after each other, blades in hand, Adachi taking swing after swing while Michael deftly avoided his attacks like it was all second nature to him.

"Your bonds are becoming stronger," Michael said suddenly, ducking under his swing and striking out with his sword, shifting his grip at the last moment to only tap Adachi's side.  The detective let out a groan, letting his sword and sword arm drop to his side.  This was so much harder than what people made it look… he grumbled, wiping sweat from his forehead with his clothes.

"R-really?" he asked, out of breath.

Something that might have been a smile crept onto Michael's face as he gave a nod.

"You had to notice it with Rise," he pointed out.  "She's stronger now."

Adachi paused at that; yeah, Rise coming to the decision to go back into show business was a pretty big deal.  She had been dead set on retiring and staying that way, and really from how she used to force a smile on her face so much that may have been for the better.  But it was hard to miss that smile coming more naturally over the weeks that followed, along with her gradually becoming more and more energetic.  It was… exciting to see, though he was not sure that was the right word for it.  She was supposed to be the one that had all the energy in the group, not the tired looking tofu worker he had seen when they first met.

"So the others are going to go through that too?" he asked.  "Should I help them with that?"

"What do you think?"

Adachi paused, not entirely sure if Michael was being sarcastic or not, so he took it as not, instead seriously considering the question.

"…no," he finally answered.  "No, I won't.  Finding their own strength; that's something important to them, right?  Me holding their hand through the whole thing isn't really going to help them."

That almost smile appeared on Michael's face again, and after a moment he shook his head, letting out a faint chuckle.

"And Igor said you were hopeless."

Adachi let out a snort, before raising his sword again in challenge.  "I think you said your name wrong."

~.oOOo.~

Adachi hesitated outside of the Dojima household, feeling like he was invading some sacred land and he needed to get out and back to his apartment as quickly as possible.  It was the promised three days later, and his partner was supposed to be back home by now, but he had yet to check in at work, and… well, if he was not at work, then he sure as heck was not at home either.  That meant that Nanako and Seito had been home alone this whole time, something that made his stomach twist in ways he did not want to think about, leading to his current position, standing awkwardly at the door to his partner's house.

"Ah, hell with it…" he muttered under his breath, reaching up to knock on the door.  A shuffling sound came from within, before a familiar voice drifted out from behind the door.

"Who is it?"

Adachi blinked at the door like it just told him a dirty secret; Nanako was answering the door?

"It's me, Adachi; can I come in?"

"Adachi-san…?" Nanako's voice murmured from the other side.  There was a very long pause, before the door slid slowly open, her small face peering up at him from the other side.  Beyond her, he could see the TV playing a Mr. Experiment X episode, but nothing else; no Seito, and no Dojima.

"H-hey, are you by yourself?" he asked, and she gave him a solemn nod before moving out of the way so he could enter.  Adachi was _really_ unsure about coming in now; on one hand, what the heck was wrong with those two leaving her all by herself?  On the other… man, it probably looked really weird that an older man that was not related to her was stopping in while she was alone… but at the same time he could not really _leave her_ like this…

Adachi let out a huff at his own circular thoughts, before finally entering the house, shucking off his shoes at the door.  Nanako had already gone back to her electronic baby sitter, staring at it like it was sucking out her soul little by little – creepy, really.  He went over to sit where Seito would usually sit when Adachi was over, across from Nanako, settling his hands awkwardly on his knees.  What was he supposed to even do in a situation like this…?

"Um… have you heard from your dad?" he finally asked, but that only got him a faint noise and a sad shake of her head.  Oh boy…  "Uh, how about your big bro?  Where's he?"

Nanako glanced over at him after a moment.  "He said he had some things he needed to take care of tonight, so he left before diner."

Damn, she had been alone in the house for that long?  Come to think of it, how often had Seito just up and left her alone these past few days?  And doing something at night?  Rise was always complaining about how he never seemed to want to do anything.  Was this the reason; did he have some sugar baby that—

…Seito?  Sugar baby?  Yeah right; Adachi shook his head at his own thoughts.

He still did not know what he was supposed to be doing in this situation; it was not like he ever really needed to take care of a kid before – and no, Teddie did not count.  What did kids her age even like to do or see, other than staring at that electronic box all the time?  Adachi found himself frowning at the screen, trying to think of something to do…

After a moment, he stuck a hand into his pocket, feeling around for some 500 yen coins he had left in there from his lunch.  He held one up, and the action immediately drew Nanako's attention.  She tilted her head at him curiously, and he grinned broadly, turning it around for her to see, before he let it drop into his hand.  His fingers came around into a fist, before opening up, revealing the coin was _gone._

Nanako nearly jumped up from her pillow, eyes wide.  "What…?  Where did it go?"

Adachi held up a finger, giving her a wink, before he reached over for her ear, "pulling" the coin out of it and over for her to see.  Her eyes lit up in surprise, mouth working as she struggled for something to say in her amazement.

"D-do it again!  Do it again!" she finally exclaimed, completely forgetting about the TV and giving Adachi her full attention.

Adachi grinned, spoiling her with the best sleight of hand tricks he knew until she let out a yawn, managing to cover her mouth in the process.  He let out an amused noise, turning off the forgotten TV as she went off to get ready for bed.  He waited until she was running back into her room after brushing her teeth, following in after her so he could tuck her in for the night – little kids her age still went for that sort of thing, right?  If she did not, Nanako did not say a word, instead huddling happily under her futon blanket.

"Adachi-san…?"

"Yeah, Nanako-chan?"

She peered up at him almost shyly.  "…can you come over more often?  I like it when you're here."

Adachi smiled warmly at that.  "Sure thing."

He moved to leave, but her tiny voice stopped him again.  She glanced sidelong to her school bag, and a piece of paper just sticking out from one of the mesh pockets on the side.

"…you'll probably see dad before I do," she began.  "Could you give him that for me?"

Adachi let out a curious noise, ducking down to pull the paper out.  It was a request form for a sit in on Nanako's class, asking for what day and time her parent would be available.  He could already feel a sense of dread worming its way into his gut; so far Dojima's track record for being a parent was not really that great…

"I'll see what I can do," he assured her, patting her head and getting a brilliant smile from her.

~.oOOo.~

Saki let out a despondent sigh as she gazed out from the food court stall, noting that the crowds of people were getting fewer and fewer as time went on.  Colder weather was rolling in, and no one wanted to stick around outside for too long, especially for Junes' low quality fast food.  She was nice and warm near the ovens of course, but being near the window gave her a fresh taste of just how chilly the air really was and brought home the fact that November was starting tomorrow.

It was getting close to a full year since all the madness had started, and they were no closer to solving the murders than they had been back in April.  Sure, they had some clues, but the pieces were not fitting together in a way they could understand.  Even with Adachi cooperating with them and everything they had pulled together… with Sayoko and Naoto and everyone else; they had more and more questions every single time they jumped into the TV, and…

…and she still did not know what the hell she was fighting for.

A frustrated groan escaped from her as she flopped her head forward, thumping it loudly against the counter.  Of course, she was met with a familiar squeak, and she did not need to be looking up to know that there was a fuzzy bear head peering through the window.

"Saki-chan, you okay?" Teddie asked, sounding a bit distressed from seeing her flopped over like that.  She forced herself up, pushing her hair out of her face.

"I'm fine, Teddie," she insisted.  "Just a lot on my mind."

He wiggled himself closer to the window, almost looking like he was going to try and crawl inside, and she could easily imagine his tail wiggling back and forth behind him.  She reached up, petting his fuzzy head and getting a happy sounding growl out of him; sometimes it was really hard to remember there was an actual person under that costume.  Saki was about to comment on such, when she glanced past him, spotting two familiar coworkers and nearly groaning in exasperation.

It seemed stores like Junes attracted two kinds of employees: the kind that actually worked their jobs, or the kind that was just in it for something to do at the end of the school day.  The two that were approaching her were definitely part of the later group; they were always bragging about how their parents would get them anything they wanted, and finding ways to get out of working shifts when they did not want to put in the effort.  Before everything happened, they were always harassing Yosuke, and she had managed to avoid having to deal with them.  Now that he was gone, it seemed she had become their replacement complaint box.

She could not stand it.

"Saki-chan," the one with the bun wound too tight on the top of her head began, "that manager of ours scheduled us for Saturday again!  Can you believe this?"

Saki tried not to look as annoyed as she was.  "Didn't you say you could work Saturdays when you applied?"

The other one let out a scoff, folding her arms over her chest.  "Well, yeah, but only because they wouldn't hire us if we didn't."

"When you say you can do something, typically you're expected to do it…" Saki shot back before she could keep check on herself, but really, this was a no brainer.  Why did she have to spell it out for these idiots?  Bunhead really looked insulted by that too, and Saki had to keep back a sigh; here it comes…

"You can't talk to us like that!" she snapped.  "Just because the Prince of Junes was sweet on you, doesn't give you the right to look down on us!"

"Seriously," the other one drawled.  "You're no better, you know; you look like you're half dead when you're working anymore."

Saki was reaching the limit of her patience, and it must have shown because Teddie let out a worried noise.  He squeaked over to block off the window, holding out his stubby arms.

"Hey, don't make fun of Saki-chan!" he exclaimed.  "She's working hard, just like everyone else!"

Bunhead focused a particularly nasty look at him.  "Shut up!  No one asked you!"

That was it; Saki smacked her hands on the counter, standing up straight.  The action was enough to make the girls jump, looking up at her in surprise.

"Don't you _dare_ talk to Teddie that way!" she snapped.  "People that don't even bother to show up half the time don't have any right to talk down to the people that are here to actually work!"

They both backed off, but Saki was not done; she paused for breath, but not long enough to enjoy the surprised looks on their faces.

"Don't think I didn't notice; you were on Yosuke's case all the time, trying to get time off when _you_ wanted it, which was nearly every day!" she snapped.  "If you didn't want to work, then why did you bother applying here!?  And why did you have to keep harassing him all the time?  Just because he was the manager's son?  Because he was different?  Because he was from the city?  Because he was so desperate to find a way to fit in that he'd help out just about anyone!?  The two of you are sick!"

Stunned silence hung between everyone, before the bunhead finally moved first, looking away.

"T-tch… whatever, we don't have to take this from you," she muttered under her breath, before her and her friend made a quick retreat.  Saki managed to hold herself together just long enough to watch the two of them disappear behind the corner, before she collapsed back behind the counter.

Teddie peered in at her again, making sure she was okay.  "W-wow, Saki-chan, that was amazing…!"

She just let out a sigh.  "I guess I said some pretty crazy things, hunh?"

Her outburst played over and over again in her head, before her stomach finally gave a twist, realizing the most crazy thing about the whole exchange: she called Yosuke by his given name.  Why on earth did that slip out like that…?

~.oOOo.~

Adachi muttered under his breath as he headed to Junes, though his mind was caught up with more than just picking Teddie up from his shift.  Nanako's form was still weighing heavily in his pocket; he had yet to see Dojima again, though he had received word that he should have been coming in sometime today.  He had no idea how he was supposed to hand that print over to him, or what he was even supposed to say when he did.  "Here, your daughter doesn't feel comfortable asking you herself so she asked me to ask you?"  Yeah, that would go over well.

"Oh, Tohru-chan!"

He was so lost in his own thoughts that he was not paying attention to the people around him, until the old crony voice rang in his ears and made him freeze up.  There had been all manner of people that would stop and bother him, being one of the local detectives.  Most of them just would just say hello and ask how his day was going, a few would try and press him for some assurance that the case was going well.  Usually the conversation only lasted a few minutes, and he was back on his way again.

And then there was this old woman.

He had helped her get her cat out of a tree not long after he had arrived, mostly because he had stumbled on the scene of her trying to call the feline down and would have looked like an ass if he just walked by.  Ever since then, he had been bumping into her at Junes every so often, and she would chat him up… and then he made the mistake of giving her his given name.  Apparently she had a "Tohru-chan" for a son, one that must have looked and acted like he did, because she immediately started treating him like he _was_ her son.  Mostly he had managed to avoid her – either by taking a different entrance into Junes, or by hiding behind Kanji whenever he was with the others.

Of course, it could not always last, and he found himself looking down at her as she shuffled over, container clutched in hand.

"Tohru-chan, I haven't seen you in so long," she began, a gentle, motherly smile on her face.  Adachi had to force himself not to cry out in exasperation, a smile plastered on his face.

"Ah, I've been really busy," he replied.  "This case, and all…"

"Oh, dear," she murmured, a bit of an alarmed look coming to her face.  "You shouldn't work yourself so hard, though."

Here it comes; the old woman held the container she was clutching out to him, and Adachi swore he could feel his stomach flop over on itself.  This happened every time she talked to him; she would always have some kind of leftovers container with her, and it always contained nimono.  He did not necessarily _mind_ nimono, except for the fact that the lotus root in hers was all tough and gross.  Hell, even _Teddie_ would not eat it, and that bear was practically a living vacuum cleaner!

"Here, I made you your favorite, Tohru-chan.  Just like you like it."

What was worse about the whole thing was that he could not say no, and Adachi felt his hands shake a little as he reached out for the container.

"Th-thank you…" he managed to get out, feeling his stomach do a disgusted somersault.

"Next time you have free time, Tohru-chan, you should stop in," she insisted kindly.  "I will cook a batch fresh just for you."

"S-sure thing," Adachi managed to get out, making his escape while he could as his mind screamed, _"HELL NO,"_ loud enough to rival Kanji.

He did not stop his brisk walk until he was in the food court, letting out a breath of relief when he saw Teddie standing by Saki.  The bear turned when he saw him, hopping happily over to him as Saki flashed a strained smile, something that had Adachi immediately concerned.

"What's going on?" he asked, tossing the care package in the trash as he headed over to them.

"Just… a lot of things," she replied, sounding like she was trying to brush it off as nothing.  It clearly was not "nothing," and Adachi had half a mind to call her out on it, but he relented.  She did not look in the mood for talking about it, and pushing her might have put her in an even worse mood.  Instead he reached over, giving her arm an awkward pat.

"Well… if you need to rant…" he began, and that at least drew a genuine smile from her.

"I know who to harass," she replied, a bit of a teasing note coming to her voice.

Adachi grinned, and he was about to reply, when his text notification went off on his cell phone.  He pulled it out, only to see a blazing message from Dojima on the screen:

> ADACHI! WHERE THE HELL ARE YOU!? 

A sigh escaped from him at that; man, even texting, Dojima managed to yell at him.

"Looks like Dojima-san is back," he muttered under his breath.  "I need to get back to the station; can you make sure Teddie gets home okay?"

"Sure," Saki replied with a nod, and Teddie waved as he had to turn around and headed right back out of the store.  It looked like overtime was on the menu tonight; clearly it was going to be ages before he would get to go home at a normal time again.

~.oOOo.~

The main street in the shopping district was quiet, and Saki could see people hurrying to either pull out umbrellas or to get home before the rain set in.  She glanced up, and could see clouds gathering overhead; there was definitely going to be a storm later, though she was not sure if it was going to last until Midnight.  Her gaze went down to the bear next to her, tittering back and forth on his feet as he hugged his costume nervously to his chest.

"Hey, why don't you stay at my place tonight," she offered, a reassuring smile coming to her face.  "Walking all the way to Adachi's place in the rain isn't going to be very fun."

He peered up at her at that, blue eyes sparkling hopefully.  "Y-you sure?"

Saki let out a laugh, reaching over to pat his head.  "Yeah; besides, Adachi-san sounded like he was going to be gone the rest of the night.  It's better when there's someone around, right?"

He gave a nod, before practically skipping his way toward the liquor store, singing, "Sleep over, sleep over!" over and over again.  Saki shook her head, bemused, as she started after him, only to come up short as the shop door swung open, nearly hitting poor Teddie in the face.  She had to make a face when she saw who it was: two of the most gossipy, self entitled, annoying housewives in the town.

"—believe how much more expensive their sake is," one of them was saying, completely ignoring the fact that Teddie and Saki were there.

"It must be because of what happened to them," the other said, a lazy sort of air to her voice.  "With one child dead and the other betraying the whole family, it's a wonder they can even afford to be in business right now."

Teddie growled, looking like he was going to approach, but Saki grabbed his shoulder before he could do anything.  It did not keep the women from noticing them however, and an awkward silence settled over the two groups as they stared at each other.  Saki cleared her throat after a moment, making it look like she had not really heard what they said.

"Off to Junes now?" she asked, an innocent tone in her voice.

One of the women let out an offended noise.  "And help the shopping district decline further?"

"But… you're not buying anything," Saki pointed out.  "Instead you complain that prices are too expensive compared to Junes, and then seek to put the blame on everyone but yourself.  But I just suppose that's easier for you, isn't it?"

The other woman let out an offended noise, but the first grabbed her shoulder, shaking her head.  They passed a look back to her, before the both of them left the shop, leaving Saki and Teddie standing on the sidewalk.  After a moment, he turned toward her, eyes widened in surprise, and Saki leaned back a little, pressing a hand to her cheek.

"…I'm really going off on people today, aren't I?" she asked.

"Maybe you needed to say these things?" Teddie suggested.

"Maybe…" Saki murmured, before shaking her head, reaching for the entrance to the store.

Once again, she found herself coming to a stop, Teddie colliding with her back.  Her father was standing right there in the entranceway, and the bear pressed up against her back at the severe look on his face, peering up over her shoulder.  Her father glanced down at him, before nodding him toward the upstairs.

"Go on, Teddie," she murmured, nudging him from behind her.  He hesitated, taking a look at her father one more time, before scurrying for the upstairs.  Saki took a breath, glancing back at her father… but the severe look at melted off his face, and instead of angry, he looked tired and worn, like the world was just eroding him away.

"I heard what you said out there," he began.  "You know better than to speak that way to customers."

Saki pressed her lips together, trying to force out an apology that she did not really feel, before her father suddenly grabbed her, pulling her into a hug.  She froze at that, not really sure how to respond; she could not remember the last time her father had hugged her, not to mention out of the blue like this.

"…you've been suffering, haven't you?"

She could feel tears coming to her eyes at that, and her arms came up, clinging to her father's back as she buried her face in his shoulder.

~.oOOo.~

Dojima was in just as much of a foul mood as the text message he received implied, and Adachi had to stand there, ram rod straight and endure the uncomfortable air in the office as his partner shifted through paperwork.  It felt like forever before Dojima looked up at him, practically throwing a folder full of files at him.  Adachi let out a grunt, blinking in surprise, before pulling open the folder.  It looked like a case study on the victims, trying desperately to connect them together with something other than Yasogami High School, something that the latest victim did not fall under.

"So the prefecture had nothing new, hunh?" he asked, only to get a glare in return.  Adachi swallowed, feeling like he was being shot at, before he closed the folder and moved to shuffle over to his desk.  He stopped before he could get there, however, feeling the weight of Nanako's form in his pocket again.  This… really was not the best time and place for this, but it would be best to get it out of the way now, while it was on his mind, instead of leaving it until the last moment.

"Uh, Dojima-san?" he asked, pulling out the form and turning around.  "I stopped by the other day to check on Nanako-chan.  She said she needed you to sign this."

He held it out for Dojima, and a strange look came to his face as he looked at it, before finally accepting it.  There was another moment as he unfolded it, staring down at it with a conflicted look on his face, before setting it down on the desk with a muttered thank you.

Adachi let out a breath he did not realize he was holding, going back over to his desk.  Okay, he did his good deed for the day; he did not have to worry about anything else now.

Right?

~.oOOo.~

Dojima ended up giving Adachi a ride partway home that night, on account of his car, "looking like it was going to roll over and die any second."  Of course, partway meant the stop was at his partner's house, and he was happy to take that opportunity to stop in and see how Nanako was doing.  She was sitting in front of the TV as usual, and once again, Seito was nowhere in sight.  Seriously, what was up with that kid lately?  Rise's complaints about how he was not spending as much time with her were getting louder too.

She bounced up as soon as they entered, though Dojima let out a tired noise, kicking his shoes off and patting her on the head as he shuffled over to the couch.  Nanako let out a confused noise, trying not to let a sad look come to her face, before she turned to Adachi, tugged his sleeve so he would come down to her height.

"Did you give it to him?" she asked softly.

"Yeah, I did," he replied.

Nanako scrunched up her face in determination, giving Adachi a nod, before turning and heading over to the couch.  She hesitated a moment, biting her lip in slight fear, before she spoke up.

"Um… dad?  About the print…"

Dojima lifted his head from the couch, looking confused.

"She means the one I gave you earlier, sir," Adachi supplied.

"Oh, right…" he murmured, pulling it from the pocket of his shirt.  Adachi almost let out a relieved noise at the sight of it; good, at least he had not left it at the office.

"Um… so, when's a good time for you to go?" Nanako pressed, sounding anxious.

Dojima let out a tired noise, letting his hand drop.  "…it doesn't matter."

A hopeful look came to Nanako's face at that.  "It doesn't?"

"No… because I won't be able to keep the appointment anyway."

Silence hung heavy in the room, and Adachi swear he felt his jaw hit the ground.  Did he really just…?  Did he seriously just hear those words come out of his partner's mouth?!  He planted a hand over his face in disbelief, trying to find something to _say_ to that, only to glance down instead, watching as the hopeful look on Nanako's face crumbled into dust.

_Dammit._

"H-hey, Dojima-san, I'm sure you can schedule some time off work for—"

"It's fine."

Nanako's soft voice cut him off, and Adachi had to wince at the pure disappointment that was dripping from her words.  She lifted her head after a moment, tears in her eyes as she struggled not to break down sobbing.

"It's fine!  It's not like you care about me anyway!  Those bad guys mean more to you than me!"

She whirled around then as Dojima bolted upright on the couch, about to yell at her, only to watch dumbly as she bolted past Adachi and out the door.  For a moment, Dojima's mouth worked, struggling to find something to say, before finally settling on the first coherent thought that came to his head:

"What's gotten into her?"

Adachi turned on him then, a look on his face that was demanding Dojima to be kidding about asking that.

"I don't know; maybe dealing with the fact that her father is pure disappointment is finally getting to her?"

_"Hey!"_

Adachi shot him a severe look, quieting any further protests on the subject.  He may have been new to this town and new to their lives, but he had been watching for most of the year as Dojima put his work before the kids staying in his house.  Hell, no seven-year-old should have needed to do the things that Nanako did; no seven-year-old deserved to be the wife of the house, but she was because Dojima could not even manage to take care of her.  It pissed him off, and he left the house without a word, trying to follow after her.

His first thought was to go to Junes; more than once he had caught her singing the theme song while he was over.  It was not too much of a stretch to believe that she loved the store, but when he got there he was treated to a darkened and locked building, and looking around the premises did not turn up a way for anyone to get in, even a small child.

After assuring himself that no one had been there since the employees left for the day, Adachi headed back into town, whipping his cell phone out.  If he had the others looking for her as well, then maybe they would be able to find her before the dark clouds overhead turned into more than just a threat.  He ended up staying his hand as he passed by the Samegawa River, however, spotting Dojima standing on the road, looking down at the river bank.  Adachi slowed as he approached, following his gaze down to where Nanako was sitting, crouched by the river and staring down into the water.

"I should have known she'd come here," Dojima murmured softly.  "Samegawa was the last place we picnicked at… before…"

Dojima trailed off, but he could guess what he was going to say, just from the state of their home: before his wife left, or died; he was guessing the later, just from the look on his partner's face.  Adachi let out a breath, rubbing at the back of his neck; dealing with victims and the ones left behind was still not his thing, and it was even worse when the one left behind was a cop.  Always thinking about how they could have done different, how they could have saved the victim; it ate away at even the best of them.

"I don't deserve to be her father," Dojima finally continued, pressing a tired hand to his face.

"Well, she deserves better than to be your daughter, if you think that way," Adachi replied, earning himself a glare in return.  For the second time that night, he refused to back down, instead keeping his gaze even on his partner.  "Go down and talk to her.  You're the only one that can."

Dojima hesitated, but Adachi leaned toward him, nudging him with an elbow.  His partner gave him a look, but finally pulled himself away, heading down the hill and onto the riverbank, approaching his daughter.  Adachi stood where he was, watching as the two of them talked, awkwardly at first, before he heard Nanako let out a cry, launching herself at her father.  Dojima held her tight against him, rocking her back and forth, and Adachi could not help the faint smile that came to his face.

It was a moment before Dojima stood up, Nanako still clinging to him as he started up from the bank, back to where Adachi was standing.  There was a moment where he did not say anything, a pained look on his face as he tried to find the words, but ultimately decided against it.  Instead he rubbed Nanako's back soothingly with one hand, the other keeping her held tight against his chest.

"…we've got a lot to talk about," Dojima finally said, raising an eyebrow at Adachi.  "You going to be okay heading home by yourself?"

Adachi managed to keep himself from making a face.  Home was on the complete other side of town, but after everything he just witnessed, he was not about to be an ass and ask for a ride.  No matter how tempting it was; the two of them needed their family time.

"Yeah, don't worry about me," he replied easily.

Dojima gave a nod, turning to head back home.  Nanako peered up from his shoulder as they walked away, and the sad but brilliant smile that was directed Adachi warmed his heart more than any Social Link yet.

~.oOOo.~

Saki curled up under the covers of her futon, a steaming cup of tea in one hand and some pamphlets strewn out before her.  The events of a few hours ago still weighed heavily on her mind, and she kept going back to the long time she had spent crying her eyes out on her father's shoulder, the ridiculous words that had come out of her mouth that day, and the ache that still lingered in her chest.  Everything still hurt… but it was starting to get better; finally, after all these months, and the only reason it had lingered for so long was her own fault.  Her own indecisiveness held her back, and it had been utter torture for her, even if she managed to put on a brave face for everyone else.

The door opened, and Teddie came whistling inside, still toweling off his hair as he slid down on the ground next to her.

"It's so weird," he began.  "Sensei's futon is up on some metal posts.  I think he likes to be tall while he's sleeping."

"It would be the only time he's tall," she teased, turning her mug around thoughtfully in her hands.  "You know, Teddie… I think I understand now."

He let out a confused noise, tilting his head curiously, and Saki could not help but reach over and give him a little pat, like he really was a pet bear.

"All this time, I've been struggling to try and answer a question that I should have never needed to ask.  'Who should I mourn more?'  Kind of silly, isn't it?" she asked.  "Yosuke, my brother… in one way or another, they were both important to my life.  Maybe even… through all this, maybe I could have even…"

She cut herself off, biting her lip; no, that was too painful of a thought to dwell on at the moment.

"The point is… I need to mourn them both, and I need to carry on for the both of them, not pick and choose," she continued.  "I don't want them looking at me from wherever they are and thinking that I'm still suffering anymore."

She glanced over at Teddie at that; he did not seem to get it, but that was okay – she did not really expect him to anyway.  A moment passed before she reached over again, patting his head, before pulling up one of the pamphlets.

"So, that being said, I need to make sure I go to a good business school," she declared.  "I know I'll inherit the liquor store, but I need to be extra sharp to be in the running for Junes store manager one day."

"Eh?  School?" Teddie asked, scooting closer.  "But aren't you already in school?"

She laughed at that.  "There's more school after high school, you know.  Adachi-san had to go to college too to get where he's at."

Teddie let out a faint noise, practically poking his nose at the pamphlet, only to leap straight up in the air as lightning went off outside.  Saki let out an amused noise, before glancing outside.  It looked like the rain that had been threatening earlier was finally cascading down, and she found herself biting her lip, hazarding a gaze toward her television.  Midnight was in a few minutes, and things had been rather quiet lately.

Would someone appear…?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please note: since it's been three years since this story first started back during NaNoWriMo 2012, I've decided to make the push and finish WITBAG for the 2015 competition. The count is starting from the next chapter (yes, that means I'm already two days behind), and you can follow my progress [here](http://nanowrimo.org/participants/skyladoragono). That means that chapter updates will be a lot faster compared to recent months, but they will also be rather unpolished (much like this one, as I didn't do my usual check just so I could get it done and out of the way). I'll spend my time through the month of December making sure that these chapters are much more presentable
> 
> Thanks for all the support over the three years I've been writing this story, and please continue to cheer me on as I run toward the finish line!


	40. Interlude

It was like he was _dying._

It was an itch he could not scratch, a need he could not satisfy; an undeniable urge better than pleasure and worse than agony, and he just _could not_ fulfill it. Kill… he needed to see them die, see them dangle, watch them fail to face their fears and suffer for it. He needed it. _He needed it._

The sound of rain on the rooftop and the crackle of thunder almost felt like a drug had been injected into his veins, and he was just barely conscious of the relieved sigh that escaped from him. Yes, at last; so many long weeks without a Midnight Channel to see; so long without the ability to twist his puppet's strings between his fingers. With this, he could kill again; hide his victim behind a wall of lies and get the satisfaction of seeing death hanging from on high again.

A faint smile split his face when the TV snapped on, when static filled the room and a yellow haze radiated out from his television screen. The figure that he saw there, however…

He actually paused, lips pursed together, torn between glee and displeasure. Too soon; it was too soon for this piece to be introduced and on the wrong end of the field, but now that it was… just how _delightful_ this would make his little game~!

The waiting was always the worst, watching the minute hand click over and the TV turn off, waiting the appropriate time for "shaking fingers" to dial the numbers necessary and press the call button. He was not surprised that he was answered immediately when he finally did call, the voice on the other end frantic with worry.

_"It was her, wasn't it? I didn't imagine that?!"_

"You were right…" he replied, pouring as much despair into his voice as he could. "It is easier to see the people you're close to."

_"What do we do?"_

That smile cracked across his face again, and he had to fight to keep the gleeful tone from reaching his voice.

"I need your help," he pleaded softly. "I need you to help me save Nanako."


	41. Chapter Thirty-one – Falling Down

"Welcome, to the Velvet Room."

It had been awhile again since he had last seen The Nose, but at least he managed to keep his surprise to himself at the weird man's presence this time.  Michael, ever attentive to his duties, shifted his Compendium over on his lap before opening it.  A card with the dishes of Justice floated out from the book, hovering above it as it turned in place.  His attendant glanced over at him, the barest of smiles threatening his face.

"The ability to objectively find one's true path, and find guidance in uncertainty; that is the heart of the Justice Arcana," he explained.  "I would have thought a detective would have gained this Social Link sooner."

He shot his attendant a look, as if silently asking if he was really going to go there.  Michael just smiled, not bothering to look at him as he snapped the Compendium closed.

"It seems that you will face a trial ahead of you," Igor began, slipping a hand out from under his nose and waving it.  The reversed Tower appeared between them, and he felt his stomach hit his shoes; that thing was just not going to go away, was it?

"How you proceed from here on out will have a great impact on your future," Michael supplied.  "Remember, keep your eyes set on the Hope you've found; even in the most trying of times, it will be your guiding light."

He looked at his attendant, surprise clear on his face.  Right there, in that moment, it really sounded like he had a lot of faith in him, and the earnest look that made it into his eyes showed it.  He bit his lip, before nodding faintly; a small promise to take what he said to heart.

"Well then, until we meet again…"

~.oOOo.~

"So we agree, right?  We haven't got a damn clue who was on the Midnight Channel last night?"

A noise of frustration passed through their little group in the middle of Junes, the disappointment hanging over them all like a cloud.  There definitely had been a figure on the Midnight Channel the night before; everyone had seen in, but not one of them had been able to get a really good look at who it could have been.  The image that was displayed was far too dark, with little to no distinguishing characteristics.

Something was niggling at the back of Adachi's head, though; something that told him he _knew_ who it was, but could not quite put his finger on who.

 _"They're small, whomever they are,"_ Sayoko's voice came from over the speaker on Adachi's phone.  _"If I had to guess, I would say about the size of a small child."_

"We can't say that with absolute certainty, however," Naoto interjected.  "The image displayed was far too generic to make any sense of it, and there was no point of reference to be certain as to the size."

"We need to be certain this time around too," Adachi replied glumly.  "The prefecture is really coming down on our department.  They're demanding _any_ kind of arrest for this case right now.  It'll turn into a witch hunt soon."

"Not just that…" Yukiko began, glancing back at a group of customers behind them.  They were clustered together, whispering in hushed voices.  "Is it just me, or are people starting to spread rumors around much faster than usual?"

"Unease, probably," Saki consented.  "People ramble more when they're nervous."

"This whole situation is making me nervous…" Adachi muttered, following Yukiko's gaze.  He could understand what she was getting at, though; there was a sort of… _tension,_ in the air.  Something was coming, something was going to happen, and none of them were going to be prepared for it.

Once Sayoko had to hang up because her lunch break was over, their group broke for the day.  Adachi shoved his hands in his pockets, trudging his way along the path out of Junes.  The weather had been getting steadily colder, but as soon as November hit, the temperature dropped to obscene levels.  He did not know how the hell the girls could just walk around in their school uniforms like it was nothing, some of them with bare legs – they were crazy, absolutely crazy.

"Tohru-chan!"

Aw, crap; somehow he managed to keep himself from planting a hand over his face, forcing on a smile as the old woman stopped him once again.  It seemed that the cold and the unsettling feeling did not bother her, and as usual she was all smiles as she started rambling about her cat and how he needed to come and visit her more often.  The only reason he was even dealing with it today was because he was not really keen on going back to the station house; Dojima had been pretty hard for him to get a read on that day, and… well, maybe it would have been best if he stayed away for now.  He _did_ say some pretty crazy things to him, after all; Adachi would not have been surprised if his partner would have thrown his coffee at him or something equally damaging.

It was at least an hour later when he was finally able to escape, and by that time the sky had darkened, threatening rain again.  At least after last night the weather was cooperating with them; they _needed_ to know just who it was that had appeared on the Midnight Channel the night before, especially if it _was_ a little kid.  No one that young deserved to be caught up in this insanity.

The sky was near pitch black by the time he ended his patrol and made it back to the station house.  He was just finishing up clocking in his time when he spotted Dojima coming his way.  For a moment, he wanted to try and pretend he did not see him, maybe bolt for the door while he had the chance, but he felt a heavy hand on his shoulder before he had the chance.

"Hey, why don't you stop by again tonight?" his partner asked, and Adachi could swear he felt goose bumps crawling up his neck.  He was going to die.

"S-sure…" he muttered, forcing a sheepish smile on his face.

The ride to his partner's house felt like agony with a slice of brutality, and he could feel a creeping doom clawing at his spine as they drove in silence.  Adachi did not know what to say, or if he _should_ even say anything.  It felt more like he was being driven to his death; there was an old junk yard on the edge of town, after all.  Dojima-san could just take him there, put one in the back of head, and no one would even know he was gone.

Wow, his imagination was going off without him.

He swallowed hard once the car came to a stop outside his partner's house, and he glanced at it curiously, wondering what horrors awaited him within.  It took more effort than he would have cared to admit for him to open his door and step out, his gut churning and instincts yelling at him to run away, run away very fast!

As soon as Dojima opened the door, however, he heard a happy noise from by the TV, and before he knew it, Nanako was practically tripping over herself to get to them.  She flashed a bright and sunny smile at the both of them, practically an entirely different person from the night before.

"Welcome home!" she exclaimed brightly, just barely managing to wait for Adachi to kick off his shoes before she was grabbing him by the hand, tugging him down to her height.

"He signed my form!" she whispered excitedly.  "He said that any time was fine!"

She shot back at that, and Adachi felt a little smile creep onto his face.  Wow, that… must have been one hell of a talk.

He slipped on the guest slippers and went to join her as Dojima headed into the kitchen.  Of course, Adachi noted that there was a distinct lack of Seito around again, but Nanako did not seem the least bit bothered about it.  As soon as he sat down, she was talking his ear off, telling him about her day at school and how she had found some bugs crawling around outside.  Apparently she thought they looked cold and brought them inside, which only served to freak her teacher out.  Adachi could not help but sympathize with the teacher, however; bugs, worms, and other things that crawled around always freaked him out too.

"Hey, Nanako-chan?" he began when she finally managed to take a breath.  "Where's your big brother at?"

Nanako fell quiet at that, a small frown coming to her face.  "…can I tell you something?"

Adachi blinked in surprise at that, giving her a small nod.

"I don't think he likes it when people call him my big brother," she said softly.  "He gets really quiet, and when I call him that, his eyes look really scary."

Adachi felt something cold settle in the pit of his stomach; a scary look in his eyes?  That did not sound like the Seito he knew at all; the kid that he knew would not know what scary was if it came up and punched him in the face.

He assured her that he would not call him that anymore just as Dojima came back in, balancing three steaming cups of coffee between his two hands.  Nanako reached up and accepted her pink mug, and Dojima placed a red mug in front of Adachi.  He paused a moment in surprise, almost like he was not sure what to do with it, before he turned a questioning gaze to his partner.

"What, don't look so surprised," Dojima replied with a faint laugh.  "You're my partner; you're someone I work with and rely on.  You may as well be part of this family.  Besides, Nanako insisted."

Adachi did not know what to say; he felt floored, really.  Like Dojima was going to need to scrape him off the ground next.  His mouth opened and closed a few times, before he finally clicked it shut, picking up his new coffee mug and occupying himself with it.  His partner let out a laugh, thumping him on the back, before he sat down at his usual place on the couch.

He peered over at Dojima, before looking down at his mug.  Family, hunh…?  Adachi smiled faintly at the thought; well, "family" was going to need to remember how he liked his coffee eventually.

~.oOOo.~

Adachi stared down his TV that night, arms crossed over his chest as Teddie fidgeted in worry beside him.  They could both hear the steady hiss of rain outside, and sure enough, once the minute hand ticked over to Midnight, something appeared on the channel.  It was the same difficult to make out image as last night, and Adachi might have thrown his remote in frustration if he was not afraid of it disappearing into the screen.

"Dammit, why hasn't it cleared up any?!" he demanded in frustration.

Teddie, meanwhile, was biting his lip, looking forlornly at the screen.  It was a moment before he looked up at him, a worried look on his face.

"I think that's Nana-chan on there."

"Nana—wait, you mean Nanako?"

Adachi felt his insides grow cold as Teddie nodded.  No, no way; she did not fit the _pattern,_ it could not be her!  Then again, Sayoko and Eri Minami had not fit the pattern either; neither of them had any ties to the high school.  It was obvious their killer and his accomplice were trying to mix things up, to keep them from pinning them down, but going after a _kid?_ Going after _Nanako,_ who was the picture perfect image of sweet and innocent?

 _Why_ would they do that?

He let out an annoyed noise, pressing a hand to his forehead.

"Let's… keep this to ourselves for now," he replied.  "I don't want the others to freak out; they already suspect it's a kid.  And I know Rise specifically will freak if it really is Nanako."

And she would probably run right to Seito and warn him.  The kid obviously had plenty of issues right now; he did not want the kid to freak out more.

~.oOOo.~

The uneasy feeling that Adachi had noticed in Junes the other day seemed to double and triple as the days wore on, making even him feel like there was something watching him, causing a creeping feeling on the back of his neck.  The fact that nothing had yet to happen, even after the Midnight Channel had warned of a new victim, did not help matters.  He kept fighting against the urge to scratch at the goose bumps on his neck as he did his usual patrol, and he was tempted to just go back to the station house numerous times as he went.  A glance around showed that he wasn't the only one, as there were less people around than ever before, and even peering into the stores in the shopping district, he could see store owners looking like they much rather be anywhere else.

On top of that, he swore he could see fog creeping around in dark corners, like some kind of snake waiting in the grass to strike…

Adachi was shaken out of his thoughts by a familiar voice shouting, and he looked up to see Kanji standing just outside his family's store next to a kid, and surrounded by police officers.  Great, now what?

He approached, fishing in his jacket pocket for his shield and flashing it once he was close enough.

"What seems to be the problem here, officers?"

The policemen backed off quickly once they saw the glint of his gold shield, and Kanji tossed him an annoyed look… but he could see a faint hint of gratitude behind that glare.  He could only assume the officers had been harassing him for a bit before he stumbled on the scene.

"Detective, we've received reports of a teenager bullying kids in the area.  We've reason to suspect he's the culprit, sir."

"Like hell I am!" Kanji bellowed, but Adachi waved an absent hand, trying to get him to calm down.

"Because… why?" Adachi replied.  "A crack shot news report about him beating up some biker gangs?  Cut me a break."

The officers did not seem to be expecting that kind of response, and for a moment they stood there, mouths agape, at a loss for how to respond.  Adachi, meanwhile, knelt down by the kid that was trying to hide himself behind Kanji, giving him a small, patient smile.

"Hey, is this big lug bothering you, kiddo?" he asked.

The kid did not even hesitate when it came to shaking his head.  "No sir; he's been helping me."

Adachi glanced up at the officers, only to see them shuffle on their feet uneasily.

"Really?  What's he been helping you with?"

"Well, I lost my friend's doll, and he made me another one just like it!" the boy replied.  "And then mom wanted a doll too, so he made her one as well.  I was dropping off the cookies my mom made as a thank you when these officers showed up."

Adachi could not help but smile at that, especially as Kanji shifted uneasily in embarrassment.  Poor guy; he had to know by now that the talent he had would get him some recognition, right?  He stood up after a moment, brushing off his pants before shrugging slightly.

"Well, there you have it," he said.  "I believe you owe Tatsumi-kun an apology, you know."

One of the officer's fumbled, though the other held his ground.

"Detective, he could be lying, out of fear for what Tatsumi will do if he tells the truth."

Adachi let out a sigh at that, pinching the bridge of his nose; this right here?  This was exactly why the prefecture was getting on their case about the lack of progress.  The rest of the police department was inept as all hell.  Before he could say as much, however, Kanji jumped in ahead of him.

"Ain't no lying about it!" he snapped.  "Yeah, I made him some dolls; for him, his mom, and his friends, it came to about eight all together.  And you know what?  They're cute; the kind of cute that gives you diabetes!  The instant death kind!"

Now the other officer looked uneasy, though Kanji was not about to let him back down that easily.

"I'm not gonna let you call this kid or Adachi-san a liar, you hear me?" Kanji demanded.  "Go ahead, point and laugh at me all you want; at this point I'm used to it.  But leave them out of it, or I'll sew circles around you!"

He shot forward, making both officers back up.

"You!  You've got a button loose!  I'm fixing it!"

Adachi had to cover his mouth, struggling against busting out in hysterical laughter.  He had never seen grown men running in fear of a sewing needle quite like what he just witnessed, but it was beyond entertaining.  The officers backed up again, before finally turning and running for it.  He finally gave in to laughing once they were out of sight, needing to wrap an arm around his stomach and struggling against tears.  The kid glanced at him, before going over to Kanji, tugging on his arm.

"Here's the cookies, sir," he said, handing him the pack that he was clinging to.  "I'll let you know if anyone I know wants any more dolls!"

He scurried off then as Adachi recovered, though the detective still had an amused look on his face as he glanced over at Kanji.  The teen still looked like he was going to grab some knitting needles and spread yarn all through the town, before he finally deflated, looking a little sheepish.

"…guess I went a bit overboard," he mumbled.

"Not really," Adachi replied, waving a hand.  "They deserved it.  And when did you start being okay with making dolls for people?"

Kanji's face turned red at that, and he shuffled his feet.

"Uh, well… he was kind of upset and it was getting annoying and… uh…"

Adachi had to struggle against a smile again; seeing Kanji so embarrassed was a treat, really.

"You know… it's a pretty cool talent, you know," he replied.  "You should keep doing it."

Kanji hesitated a moment, looking like he was not sure how to reply.  He reached back, rubbing at his neck, before he let out a sigh.

"You know… before my old man died, he was always talking about what it meant to be a man, but I could never understand it," he began.  "I thought that… liking the things I do, doing what I could, that wasn't what being a man was.  I still don't think I understand what that means."

Adachi paused a moment, scratching at the back of his head.  That was something Kanji's Shadow had been on about too, right?  He guessed it would not be resolved so easily, but he wasn't exactly sure how to help him either.

"I think…" he began, "I think being a man means being honest with the kind of person you are, whomever that is.  Being smart and applying that to detective work, or being talented and applying that to handicrafts… that's all still being a man."

For a moment, Kanji just looked at him in surprise, not sure how to respond to that one.  Finally he let out a laugh, shaking his head.

"Yeah… yeah, I guess that makes sense," he replied, letting out a faint laugh.  "Man… it sounds so simple.  I guess I should have been able to see it before."

Kanji had a small smile on his face, and Adachi could not help but smile himself.  They all were really growing from all this, hunh?  The Kanji from before would not have been able to accept that, or come to understand it either.

"You know… I think I'm going to start making more of those dolls," he continued.   "Maybe even sell them in the store… o-or maybe I can give lessons!  Hey, Adachi-san!  You need to be my first student now!"

Now it was Adachi's turn to take a step back in surprise.  "W-what?  Me?  O-oh c'mon, I have two left hands…"

~.oOOo.~

Adachi was midway into a sigh as he headed back to his desk in the precinct, when he caught sight of a familiar head of grey hair.  Seito was standing by his uncle's desk, looking even more twitchy and uneasy than the last time he had seen the kid.  No wonder Rise was so worried; the kid looked like a breeze would make him crack in half.  He was sure to approach carefully, a soft smile on his face so as to hopefully not spook him any more than he already was.

"Hey, kid," he began softly.  "I haven't seen you in awhile."

"Y-yeah…" Seito admitted softly, a sheepish look coming to his face.  "I've been preoccupied…"

"I'll say," Adachi replied, leaning against his partner's desk.  There was a moment where he just gave the teen a concerned look, before he continued.  "Is anything wrong?"

Seito hesitated, looking away.  "I… well.  My year here is going over soon.  I… I guess I'm afraid, of losing what I gained here."

He could not help but look a bit surprised at that; he was so used to Seito's presence, even if he was a quiet, twitchy presence, that the thought of him leaving barely occurred to him.  It was a moment before the gentle smile could come back to his face, though he was still sincere in his expression, even if there was a bit of sadness behind it.

"You know, long distance relationships can be hard, but they're not impossible," he assured him.  "The life you found here doesn't have to end just because you're moving back home."

Seito's expression seemed strained at that, like he was trying very hard to believe Adachi and falling short on that.  He reached over to him, giving his shoulder a gentle squeeze, as if trying to reassure him that what he was saying was true.  Unfortunately, he did not have the chance to say more, as Dojima chose that moment to show up, a large mug of coffee in hand.  Seito let out a faint noise, hurrying over and holding out a bag to him.

"Here are your clothes, uncle."

Adachi raised an eyebrow at that.  "Pulling an all nighter?"

Dojima let out a confirmation noise, before patting Seito on the back.  "It's okay; Nanako won't be alone tonight."

Seito managed a sheepish noise, smiling faintly, before quietly excusing himself.  Adachi watched him leave, and he could not help but look concerned.  Something felt… _wrong;_ like he knew something was wrong, but he could not put his finger on what.

"When I get off, I'll stop by; make sure they're okay," Adachi offered, and Dojima let out a grunt at the offer that he took as an okay.  He shrugged slightly, before going over to his desk, sorting through the paperwork there.  Geeze, since when did he have so much paperwork built up?  It took him some time to get through – reports on other cases they were working, correspondences from the prefecture office, a complaint about some brat that was shredding some of the greenery on the hill that overlooked the town.

He let out a sigh as he picked up the last thing on his desk: a plain envelope, which he ripped open and shook out the contents.  All that fell out was a single piece of folded paper, and he unfolded it, not giving it much thought… until he saw the familiar typed print staring back up at him.

> tonight she dangles on high for all to   
> see
> 
> left all alone with no one to save her
> 
> heavens not open any more
> 
> dripdrip
> 
> diedie

For a moment, Adachi forgot what it felt like to breathe, and he did not know what to do.  Oh, he knew who that letter was talking about, and he knew which one of their rampant psychopaths had sent it too.  But the most important question was how the _hell_ had he gotten into police headquarters to deliver it?!

Before he could get his brain in gear and decide what to do, the letter was suddenly snatched out from under his eyes.  He must have been staring like a fish for far too long at the letter, and it definitely caught Dojima's attention, who was now staring at it hard enough to burn holes through the paper.

Uh oh.

After a moment, he folded the note back up, focusing that glare on Adachi next, and he felt a hole open up in his stomach at that look.  Oh, he was in so much trouble and he knew it, even before his partner gave a sharp nod back in the direction of the interrogation rooms.  Hesitantly, he stood up, making his way toward the back with Dojima, and as soon as they were out of sight of the other officers, he felt his arm grabbed in a vise-like grip.  His heart hit his shoes, and he was barely able to stumble along with Dojima before he ended up shoved into an interrogation room and practically thrown into a chair.

Adachi felt very small as Dojima slammed the door behind them, locking it with a snap before sitting down across from him.  The letter was down on the table between them, an irritated finger slamming right in the middle of the paper.

"Explain this!"

Adachi swallowed.  "Uh.  Looks like a note, sir."

Playing dumb was not going to help him; Dojima slammed his fist down in the middle of the paper, making him jump clear out of his skin.  Oh man, he had never seen his partner this pissed off, and he was not sure if he really wanted to again.

"Don't play dumb, Adachi!  Just how many of these have you gotten!?"

"Uh… maybe two now?  I forg—"

_"TWO!?"_

Adachi leaned as far back in his chair as he could at his partner's outburst, half expecting him to grab him by his shirt and strangle him with it.  Somehow he managed to restrain himself, though he still looked like he was going to snap any second.  He had to be careful how he proceeded from here, because he was fairly sure with how much Dojima was pissed off, _he_ was going to end up as a suspect if he was not careful.

"Look," Dojima began, "I know this town isn't exactly ideal for city folk, and I know you've had a hard time adjusting to it.  And I also know from the other day that I haven't exactly been the ideal partner when it comes to helping you.  But I also know that you've been going off on your own, doing more things than just 'patrolling' like you say you do.  There have been whole instances where you just drop off the face of the earth and no one can find you.  So be honest with me, Adachi; just how are you involved in all of this?"

Adachi stared for a moment, feeling torn.  This was not fair; he had no idea how to respond to that kind of sincerity from Dojima.  At the same time, if he told him the truth… well, there was no way he was ever going to believe him.

"You're not going to believe me," he found himself saying outright, and he did not miss the stricken look on his partner's face at his words.  Dammit…  "But… fine.  It's not just me, it's all of us; all those teenagers you keep telling me to stop hanging out with.  We're all involved, and many of them are people we've save from meeting the same fate as the other victims."

Dojima looked surprised at that, and Adachi let out a breath; here goes nothing…

"We're saving the ones we can by entering an alternate world through the TV screens," he began.  "There are Shadows – these monsters there, and we need to use Personas to—"

He cut himself off, instantly knowing from the look on Dojima's face that this explanation was going to be a lost cause.  His partner's fist tightened, a range of emotion passing over him, before he finally laid his hand flat on the table, forcing out a breath.

"I didn't expect you to trust me, but to outright lie to me—"

"I told you, you wouldn't believe me."

Dojima's fist tightened again, coming down sharply on the table, making Adachi jump again.  Fortunately, he was saved from the screaming that was bound to come; as all the other interrogation rooms, there was both a supply shelf and a television in the room, along with a clock that snapped loudly as the time clicked over to midnight.  It must have been raining outside, because the TV snapped on, a yellow haze filling the room as the buzz of static assaulted their ears.

Dojima stared in surprise, obviously seeing the Midnight Channel for the first time.  It only got worse, however, as a very clear image appeared on the screen, with what looked like a storybook garden in the background… and in the foreground, a very familiar little girl in a pink dress with her hair in pigtails.

_Nanako._

"What…?" Dojima managed to get out as the minute clicked over, and the Midnight Channel shut off.  Adachi grit his teeth, wanting to just ignore his partner and run out, get his team together, and get in the TV before Nanako was in there for very long.  A cell phone went off in the next moment, however, and Dojima pulled his out, flicking it on.  For a moment he froze, eyes widening as very obvious dread appeared on his face, before he held it out, flicking it over to speaker phone so Adachi could hear as well.

 _"…uncle…?  Are you there?"_ Seito's voice flooded over the speaker, sounding very weak.

"I'm here, Seito-kun; what happened?  Where are you now?!"

_"I… was attacked.  Nanako… Nanako is…!"_

Dojima did not wait for an explanation; he was bolting out of the door in the next moment, barely even remembering that he was trying to interrogate Adachi a moment ago.  He went fumbling after him before he knew what he was doing, a feeling of dread settling in his chest.  It was clearly their murderer that had shoved Nanako in the television; Seito was lucky to still be alive… assuming he was not more injured than he sounded over the phone…

He was barreling after Dojima in the next moment, nearly crashing into a number of confused detectives and officers.  He was right behind him as his partner threw himself into his car, falling into the car next to him.

"What are you doing?!" Dojima demanded, though he was still buckling in and starting up the vehicle.

"I'm _not_ letting you go after a killer by yourself!" Adachi snapped back, only to end up letting out a yelp as Dojima peeled out of the parking space, throwing the vehicle out onto the road and forcing him to grab onto the dash or be thrown out the windshield.  The drive to his partner's house was short, but tense the whole way, like the very air around them had become solid and impossible to breathe through.

Dojima barely remembered to put the car in park once they got to his house, flinging himself out of the vehicle.  The door to the building had been left wide open, and as Adachi pulled himself out of the car, he could just barely see inside around Dojima as he barreled in.  He was about to follow after him, when he caught the sound of footsteps down the street.

"Adachi-san!"

Rise came running toward him, stopping once she was close enough to catch her breath.  She was clutching her cell phone to her chest, looking half panicked still.

"I-I've been trying to call since I saw the Midnight Channel… you, Seito; no one picked up."

"Sorry, I was… otherwise preoccupied," Adachi replied, though his focus was on the home and where he could see Dojima kneeling down on the ground.  He glanced back toward Rise then, nodding toward the house, before ducking inside.

The walk-in area and living room were an utter mess, and there were clear signs of a struggle starting from the door all the way to the television.  Dojima was helping Seito sit up by the small bookshelf near the living room, and there was a nasty looking bruise forming on the side of the teen's head.  Rise let out a startled noise, hurrying over to the fridge to get some ice for her boyfriend as Adachi headed over, kneeling beside him.

"What happened?"

Seito looked up at him, the pain he was in obvious on his face.  "A… friend of mine… he came over.  Started ranting about how he needed to save Nanako.  He… he tried to grab her… I tried to stop him, but… he… the TV…?"

Rise came over then, carefully pressing ice covered in a wash cloth against his forehead.  He gave her a grateful look as Dojima stood up, ignoring the overturned table and frowning at the television.  A moment passed before he reached down, rapping his knuckles against the screen, before bringing his fist down on it.

"How?" he demanded.  _"How?!_ How did this happen!?"

He slammed his fist against the screen again, and Adachi got to his feet, hurrying over to him before his partner hurt himself.

"Dojima-san, c'mon—!"

Dojima did not listen, instead continuing to pound on the screen, like he was trying to find a way in; any harder, and he might well break it at this rate.  Without thinking, Adachi reached down to grab him, to pull him away from the television… and Dojima's fist sank into the TV.  There was an awkward moment where Adachi realized his mistake, before the momentum from his partner swinging at the TV had him sinking halfway inside.  He scrambled, trying to drag Dojima back, but in his haste, only ended up knocking him in instead.

An awkward silence hung over the room, and Adachi's mouth worked, like he was trying to find something to say and finding himself lacking.  After a moment, he turned a helpless look to Rise, just shaking his head.

That… that _did not_ just happen.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have a cover design contest going on [through my Tumblr](http://skyladoragono.tumblr.com/post/132747470718/nano-stats-show-uploading-a-novel-cover-increases), with the chance of winning a full 3-D game creation suite as the first prize! Please stop in and check it out; the submission deadline is the 27th of November.


	42. Chapter Thirty-two – Memories of Samegawa

It did not take long to get everyone together and ready to go into the TV at the precinct that night; the others had all seen the Midnight Channel and were ready to go, some so quick to get there that they forgot rain gear, much like Rise had.  Adachi still heard it pounding on the roof above as they dived into the usual TV in the dusty old interrogation room – though considering _certain people_ were still giggling like hyenas about what happened, it was a wonder he could hear anything.  He knew he was never going to be able to live Dojima falling into the TV down, and Yukiko was certainly proving it.

Aside from her, however, amusement amongst their group was at an all time low as they stood on the stage, watching Sayoko and her Persona work.  The form her Persona, Ame no Uzume, had taken was like a massive physician's control center, with three panels that kept Sayoko surrounded, held in place around her by a feminine figure that was difficult to look at.  She was human-like, but there was just enough disconnect between human features and doll-like machine features that it made it hard to tell just which of the two the Persona fell under.  Adachi might have been more amazed by it, if the circumstances were not so dire.

"I'm picking them up," Sayoko finally announced, her hands flicking quickly between screens.  "Dojima-san is closer to us than Nanako-chan, but they are both in the same general area."

She paused after a moment, glancing up at their group.  "I don't think you're going to like where they've ended up…"

An uneasy feeling passed over their group at those ominous words, feet shuffling and worried glances passing back and forth.  Even Yukiko had stopped her giggling, obvious concern on her face.

They headed down one of the paths from the stage area, going deeper into the fog that covered the TV world.  It seemed deeper and denser than it ever had been before, and even when they finally arrived in the new area, it felt like it was still clinging to them, trying to draw them back.  The view in front of them was pleasant enough, or at least part of it was.  There was a sweeping stone archway before them, a lush, beautiful garden spilling out from around and over it.  Fluffy white clouds hung overhead, and a blue sky looked like it was chasing away the fog.  Even a brilliant sun shone down on them, illuminating a golden walkway into the dungeon before them.

"It looks like a storybook version of Heaven," Rise murmured, awe reflected on her face.

Adachi glanced away from the brilliant display, glancing down the _other,_ less appealing path.  It led down and away, under the "Heaven" before them and twisted down until they could not even see the entrance from where they were standing.  A reddish hue, much like the sky that was usually visible in the TV world, could be seen radiating outward, and the gold path tarnished the further it went in, until there was nothing but broken and twisted metal left to claw at their feet.

"Guess it means that's Hell then," he pointed out, the others following his guess.  "Let me guess, Dojima-san is down there."

"And Nanako is before us, but she's quite a distance away," Sayoko confirmed.

Adachi let out a stressed noise, pinching the bridge of his nose.  Teddie let out an alarmed noise when he did not immediately say they were heading forward, looking between him and the others.

"S-so we're going after Nana-chan, right?" he insisted, looking more and more distressed as conflicted looks passed between the group.  A moment passed, before Naoto folded her arms over her chest, at once looking as cool and certain as she usually did… but at the same time, just as conflicted as the others.

"While removing a child from this place would normally take priority…" she began, her eyes flicking toward Adachi.  He caught that look, nodding absently.

"A forty-something guy like Dojima-san?  Probably has more baggage than any of us really know, or understand," he replied.  "I want to go after Nanako-chan first too, believe me, but… Dojima-san has a higher risk of dying against his own demons than she does."

"That's true…" Saki agreed, before giving Adachi a _look._ "…but why did you have to specify his age?"

"Seriously man, not cool…" Kanji muttered.

Adachi planted a hand over his face in exasperation, grumbling under his breath.

"But Nanako…" Rise began, looking back toward the Heaven entrance.  Adachi knew what she was going to say before she even said it, and he was tempted to outright tell her no before she had the chance, but…  "Maybe we should separate?  I know that's dangerous, but Nanako really shouldn't be left here any longer than necessary.  And with how much rain there's been lately, who knows when the fog will come in next."

He let out a breath, pursing his lips together; she was right, on both counts, which was why he did not cut her off before she could start.  They really could not afford to leave them both in here any longer than necessary.  A frustrated noise escaped from him, and he scratched at the back of his head as Naoto gave him one of her cold looks.  That look melted after a moment, before she let out a faint breath herself.

"…being a leader means making difficult choices, Adachi-san."

He glanced at her, managing the barest of smiles.  "Yeah, I noticed," he replied, before rubbing at his neck.  "Yeah, okay; I'm going after Dojima-san though; I know he'll have issues that he'll need all the help he can resolving."

"I'm going after Nana-chan!" Teddie piped up.

"Me too," Rise agreed, giving a determined nod.

"I'll go for her too," Kanji added in.  "Cute kid like that will need help calming down after whatever's in there."

"I… think you'd have the opposite effect, Kanji…" Saki said, only to duck behind Adachi as the big teen shot her a _look._ "Anyway! I think I'll go after Dojima-san.  It at least looks like it will be a difficult fight; Adachi-san will need all the help he can get."

"I agree," Naoto replied, and Adachi snapped his head over toward her in surprise.  What… she was agreeing with helping him?  How…?  "I will accompany him as well."

"I'll go after Nanako-chan as well," Yukiko spoke up, tapping one of her fans to her chin.  "I'm worried about her, and if she's farther in, it might be difficult going for just three people."

"I can monitor you all from here," Sayoko offered.  "These entrances feel… guarded, like something is warding the Shadows away; I won't be in danger here."

They split off into two groups, though Adachi hesitated as Saki and Naoto started down the path to the lower part of the dungeon, glancing back over to the other four.  He still did not feel right about them splitting up like this, but they really did not have much choice, even if it sounded more like an excuse in his head than an actual reason.  A moment passed before he blew out a breath, cupping his hands over his mouth.

"Don't push yourselves!" he shouted after them.  "If things get too tough, turn back and rejoin Sayoko!"

Rise turned, giving him an encouraging wave.  "Don't worry!  We'll be fine!"

"You be careful too, sensei!" Teddie called after her.

He watched as the four of them disappeared into the light at the entrance to Heaven, feeling his stomach twist itself into knots over a feeling he could not quite put his finger on.  A moment passed before he felt a hand on his shoulder, and he turned to see Saki offering him a small, encouraging smile.

"They'll be okay," she assured him.

"Yeah…" Adachi began, nodding to himself in an effort to be more convincing.  "Yeah, I know.  They'll be okay."

He finally tore his attention away from the gateway into Heaven, following the girls down the decaying path before them.  Gnarled trees and rotted plant life started to crop up along the path, and they could not help but glance back and forth in concern as an unsettling feeling stalked after them.  It was awhile before they came to a gate as well, though this one was made of twisted wrought iron and completely broken, the actual "doors" to it swinging freely on their hinges.  The three of them stopped at the sight of it, shifting uneasily as they took in the setting before them.

"So… we're going in, right?" Adachi asked.

"Y-yeah…" Saki replied, glancing down at Naoto, who was not the picture of confidence herself at the moment.  She let out a breath, adjusting her hat.

"Let's go," she said, her voice wavering.  Adachi let out a breath himself, rubbing at the back of his neck.

"Uh… yeah," he replied, trying to force confidence into his voice.  "We'll be okay."

A howl went off somewhere deep inside Hell, making all three of them jump.

"W-we'll definitely be okay!" Adachi squeaked.

They huddled close to each other as they made their way through the gate.  The path had completely decayed at that point, turning to black rock that looked more like cooled and hardened lava than something made by human hands.  Even the occasional tree they passed by was on fire, though it did not _look_ like it was burning; more that the fire was dancing on the branches of the trees, and not affecting the rest of it.  Shadowy figures – not quite Shadows, but not _normal_ either – passed between the brush, but did not outright attack them.  Instead, their beady eyes watched them, stalked them as they made their way along the path.

To say that the whole setting was unnerving was an understatement.  Adachi glanced down at his companions after awhile in; Saki looked fine – unsettled, but otherwise okay – but Naoto looked like she was going to vibrate herself into a puddle, she was shaking so hard.  Her head kept snapping back and forth between the two sides, like she was expecting something not like the Shadows they had faced so far to come and get them, almost like…

…no.  No, no; that was just too easy.  Adachi lingered back a moment, planting a hand over his mouth as he fought with himself.  He really should not be that much of an asshole; it would have been cruel, and she would probably hate him even more than usual for it.  But it was _so damn funny_ that it was almost impossible to resist.

He finally gave up fighting against his instinct to be a jerk, ducking low and quieting his footsteps as best he could as he snuck closer behind her.  Naoto did not notice, too busy with the more immediate "threats" on either side of her, until…

_"WoooooOOOOOOooo!"_

The shriek she let out probably could be heard by everyone up in Heaven, and Naoto jumped and threw herself toward Saki, clinging to her as her head snapped back and forth, eyes wide in fear.  Saki herself let out an alarmed noise, holding onto her mostly out of reflex as Adachi started _howling_ with laughter.  It took a moment for the petite detective to realize what happened, and somehow she managed to peel herself off of her senpai, a furious look coming to her face.

"You…!  How dare…!"

It really looked like she was going to hit him, and that just made Adachi laugh harder.  Utter _rage_ came to her eyes, and the fact that Saki was struggling between laughing and being mad at Adachi herself did not help matters.  She whipped her precious hat off her head, looking like she was going to start beating him with it any second.

_"What are you three doing down there?!"_

It took a moment for Adachi to register Sayoko's voice, echoing in their heads.  Was that part of her Persona's power too?  Pretty handy, especially with them separated like this.

"J-just enjoying the scenery, why?" he managed to gasp out, ignoring the death glare directed at him.

_"There are Shadows heading straight for you; it looks like an entire hoard!"_

That got Adachi to stop laughing _very_ fast.  He spun around behind him, seeing the faint outline of some kind of white specter bobbing back and forth down the path they had come from… before a massive dark wave with _eyes_ materialized behind it.  Both Saki and Naoto screamed in surprise, and before he had a chance to even give the order, they were already running for it.

Adachi stumbled after them, glancing back on occasion to see that the massive wall of darkness was actually a frightening amount of Shadows, all twisting and writhing over each other, and what he thought were eyes were just gaps in between where they could see through to the sky.  It was terrifying to look at, even more so when he realized that no matter how fast they were running, the mass was quickly gaining ground on them.

The path ahead of them split three separate ways, and as much as Adachi did not want to split their group up further, they were pretty well dead if they could not thin those Shadows out more.

"Split off!  Sayoko, keep tabs on us; make sure we can stay coordinated!"

_"On in; be careful."_

"I don't like this!" Saki objected, but her and Naoto split off the right and left paths respectively, with Adachi shooting straight down the middle path.  The Shadow swarm reacted accordingly as well, splitting off into three separate blobs that would be much easier to deal with once Adachi got to a point where he felt comfortable enough to turn around and attack.

He had been running for awhile before he dared to do so, and as he skidded backward on the molten rock as he came to a stop, reaching his hand out for his Arcana.  Izanagi responded in kind, his blade sweeping out as he emerged from the sea of his unconscious.  It knocked the stack of Shadows off, shredding through most of them in the process.  With them broken off the hoard, they looked more like ghostly beings, translucent and foreboding, and because of how see-through they were, there were _many_ more of them than he initially believed.

The ones that survived Izanagi's attack looped around him, keeping Adachi and his Persona trapped where they were standing.  He let out an irritated noise, before reaching out toward Izanagi, returning him to an Arcana card and swapping over to one of his newer links.

_"Melchizedek!"_

He knew it was supposed to be an angel of some kind – the wings made that obvious – but with the purple jumpsuit and streamlined helmet, the creature he summoned with the Justice Arcana looked more like something out of a sentai show than one of the divine.  It did not seem to matter though; the Persona was out to do its job, as it was already lashing out at what remained of the mob, a fist coming down from out of the Heavens (maybe literally, given their location), and smashing into what remained of the black lump that was the gathered hoard.  Those that survived lashed out, joining the others that circled Adachi.

Melchizedek struck a pose then, and streams of light came up from the ground around Adachi, catching the spirit-like Shadows in it.  Screams like cries of the damned escaped from them as they faded away into nothingness, leaving just him and the Persona behind.  The Persona nodded to himself, folding his arms over his chest in victory, before returning to Adachi's soul.  He stared where the Persona had been, not really sure what to make of that, but… well, the Shadows were all dead.  He could not complain, right?

He let out a breath, pausing to get his bearings, before glancing down both ends of the path.  He could not see the other two paths any more, and he was not sure just how far he had run in his panic.  Not only that, but he was worried about the girls; Saki he knew could take care of herself, but Naoto really looked terrified.  Was she seriously that afraid of ghosts, or was it more the fact of something she could not explain away with logic and deductive reasoning?

…he almost wanted to see her in a haunted house attraction.

Adachi snickered to himself, starting forward again at a more cautious pace.  He was pretty sure if he ran into trouble again, than Sayoko would pop into his head and let him know.  That was a really, super handy ability she had with her Persona; he almost wished she had joined them sooner.  It would have made a lot of the other dungeons _so_ much easier – like his own.

It was not long before the other paths came into sight again, and he paused once they all joined up, glancing back and forth.  He doubted the girls were pissed off at him enough to continue on without him, so he waited, hands in his pockets.  Saki came running down first, looking more like she had just gotten back from an energizing jog than fleeing for her life.  Adachi raised a hand to greet her, only to get punched in the arm instead.

"Why did you have to do that to poor Naoto-kun?"

"And you weren't thinking of doing the same thing?"

"That's beside the point!"

The two of them paused, before sharing an amused laugh as they turned toward the other path, waiting.  Minutes ticked by, and there was no sign of Naoto appearing to join them.

"…she's having trouble, isn't she?" Saki asked, just as a scream erupted from down the path.

"That would be a yes," Adachi replied, already breaking out into a run.

Naoto was not all that far from them down the path, but instead of being surrounded by Shadows as they expected, there was only the little white ghost Shadow they had seen before, bobbing around her and letting out faint little, "boo, boo," noises.  It was more cute than threatening, but that did not keep her from being curled up in a ball, looking like she was trying to escape into her hat.  Adachi could not help himself; he let out a snort of laughter at the sight, having to turn around a moment and collect himself, before turning back toward the ridiculous scene.  By that time, Saki was already going up to the ghost, trying to shoo it away with her hands.

The specter ended up looping around, half hiding behind Adachi and peering out at the two girls over his shoulder, almost like they scared it.  He let out an exasperated noise as Saki ducked down, making sure that Naoto was okay, though it was clear she was not, as she had started rocking herself back and forth.

"It's just a Shadow… it's just a Shadow…"

Adachi reached back to rub at his neck, shaking his head.  Man, he did not realize she was _that_ legitimately afraid; that took all the fun right out of it.

"Naoto-kun, you going to be okay?"

She nodded, despite the fact that she was clearly still scared.  Saki glanced up at him, before sitting down next to Naoto and wrapping an arm around her, holding her tight and letting her shake herself out of her fear.

"What is that?" Saki asked after a moment.  "It's not behaving like a normal Shadow."

The ghost-like creature let out a long, "booooo," noise, bobbing up and down behind Adachi, before floating back, heading toward the direction the two of them had come from.  He stared at it as it paused, turning around and letting out that noise again, waiting.

"I think we're supposed to follow it?"

"I-i-i-it m-might b-be a trap…" Naoto protested.

"Might be worth a shot anyway, if only because it was different from all those other Shadows," Adachi replied, before glancing down at her.  After a moment, he knelt down in front of her, trying to peer at her face.  "…are you going to be okay?"

Naoto glanced up at him then, visibly torn between wanting to be angry with him and acknowledging the fact that he was actually concerned for her.  She let out a small breath, finally forcing her body to uncurl itself, though she was still obviously tense.

"I have… a dislike for ghosts and ghost stories.  Th-they're not real," she explained, glancing away from him, as if that would help hide the blush on her face.

"Yeah, I got that," Adachi replied, raising his hand, only to plop it down on her head, like he was comforting a little kid.  That did not really help her embarrassment, and her face burned a vivid scarlet even after he removed his hand.  He offered it to her to help her stand, and Naoto hesitated, giving him an uncertain look, before she finally accepted it and let him pull her up.

They were running down the path after the ghostly specter after a quick assessment to make sure everyone was all right.  Adachi took the lead with the girls behind him, and it was not that long before he found himself out of breath trying to keep pace with the ghost.  It led them back to where he had met back up with Saki and down the path beyond, down yet another molten black road lined with gnarled trees.  Moments passed, before a rushing sound reached his ears, and he glanced around, looking for the source.

"Look, there," Naoto pointed out, her voice still quavering a little, but not as bad as before.  Adachi glanced back at her, before following where she was pointing, seeing a lazily twisting river cutting through the dead landscape.  "Is that supposed to be the River Styx?"

Adachi was silent for a long moment, remembering back to a few days ago, standing beside Dojima, and…

"No.  I think it's Samegawa."

As soon as he said that, as soon as his foot came down, the scene changed.  The molten rock became blacktop, and the surroundings grew and sloped down and molded themselves into the Samegawa flood plain.  The same gnarled and decaying vegetation was around them under the same red sky, but the layout, the sidewalks, they were all familiar now.

_"In my heart and mind, I always return here… Samegawa…"_

He had heard it before, the voice of someone trapped in one of these dungeon, though hearing Dojima's voice echo through the space was still a surprise.  Saki and Naoto came to either side of him, looking around for the source, though the only other individual that was there was the Shadow ghost, hanging in the distance and waiting for them to follow it again.

_"Chisato… if I can't even protect you… if I can't even find the person that did this to you, how am I supposed to move on?  How am I supposed to be a father, when I can't even be a husband?"_

"Dojima-san…" Adachi murmured under his breath, feeling his gut twist.  He did hate dealing with victims and survivors; he could not say it enough how tedious and grating it was on his nerves.  Something about actually hearing how much his partner was suffering, however… it actually hurt him as well.

He started forward, breaking out into a run after the ghost and leaving the girls scrambling to catch up with him.  The trail along Samegawa was much longer than the one in Inaba, stretching on for what felt like miles.  They could see the same dark Shadows that had accosted them before along the path, though only a few tried to attack them, only to be easily beaten back.

It was some time before they finally came to a different path, one leading down to the riverbank.  The white ghost they had been following shot away into the distance, but Adachi ignored it; Dojima was there, down the steps and standing by the river side, where he had found Nanako the other day.

"Dojima-san!" he called out as his partner turned toward them in surprise, like he had not been anticipating anyone coming after him.  For a moment he just stared at the three of them, before he focused a hard gaze on Adachi, approaching him and making him take a worried step back.

"Adachi…!" he began, looking like he was going to blow his top any second.  Adachi held up his hands, as if that would be enough to ward his partner off.  If only he was so lucky.  "What the hell is this place?!  How did I get here?!"

"Ah, well…"

Dojima did not give him a chance to explain; instead an accusatory finger was being jabbed toward his chest.

"And how have you been keeping all this from me?!" he continued to demand, making Adachi take another step back.  Even Naoto and Saki looked concerned, and for a moment Naoto almost stepped forward, though he discreetly waved her off.  Dojima was his partner, after all; he could handle this.

"Sir, I _tried_ to tell you what was going on before…"

"Don't give me you _tried!"_ Dojima snapped, making Adachi flinch.  Something did not feel right; he suspected the brief time here, plus the stress of the situation prior to his arrival in the TV was starting to wear on his partner.  He could not really blame him; it was a lot of things happening all at once, and Dojima really did not deserve having to deal with all this.  At the same time, however…

"Sir, please calm down," Adachi began, trying to sound more confident than he felt.  He paused, looking around; there were no other Shadows… which meant that Dojima's had not shown up yet.  If he could talk him out of leaving the area before it did, that would save them what would undoubtedly lead to a massive amount of grief.  "I can explain everything, but we'll need to do it somewhere else."

"No," Dojima snapped stubbornly.  "I'm done receiving half answers and bullshit.  You better start telling the truth, or I'll have your badge!"

Adachi let out an embarrassed noise; wow, he was pissed off.  He was pretty sure he had never seen his partner that mad before, and it was a little worrying.  If this kept up, even if Dojima's own Shadow did not emerge, he would at least be calling other Shadows to their area, and that was another thing they really did not need to deal with.

"Sir, you can't do that, and I promise, I'll explain everything when we get out of here," he struggled, trying so very hard to be an image of calm for his partner.  "But we really do need to get out of here right now."

"He's right, Dojima-san," Naoto spoke up, managing to set her unease aside enough to at least appear calm and collected.  "This area is too dangerous for a prolonged conversation."

"'Too dangerous'?" Dojima snapped, looking like he was going to completely blow any second.  "What are you all talking about? What is this place?!  Tell me _something_ other than we need to leave!"

The three of them hesitated, not sure what exactly to tell him that would not make him angrier than he was already.  Uncertain looks passed between them, and Adachi was about to make an attempt, when… _something_ stopped him.  Unease crept up his spine, like the bony fingers of the dead, and he felt his stomach flip over on itself.  Though nothing outwardly changed around them, it almost _felt_ darker, like a shroud had settled over the area and masked everything that was going on.  Dojima did not seem to sense it, judging by the look of confusion on his face as the three of them suddenly tensed up.

Adachi's eyes slid to the side, further down the embankment, and there he could see the source of the sudden unease.  It was just as gnarled and crippled as the rest of the world around them, stooped over and perpetually hunched, even when seated as it was.  Dead roots from the ground had sprung up what looked like ages ago, but the figure had not bothered to try and remove them; like it was not worth the effort to.  They were blindfolded, covered in rags and looking much like a beggar that had given up on their life, but despite that, Adachi could still see familiar parts: the cut of their white hair and perpetual five o'clock shadow… a red tie, much like the one he had been given…

_Oh no…_

_"Breath is wasted on those that hear but refuse to listen, see but refuse to acknowledge,"_ the Shadow intoned softly, the familiar voice sounding like dead leaves rasping against the pavement.  It got Dojima to turn around, following their gaze to the gnarled figure and eyeing it critically, not quite realizing what it was yet.

"Who the hell are you?" Dojima demanded, really sounding like he was at the end of his rope now.  Adachi had to fight against a groan, knowing what was coming, and no matter how many times he had been through this before, he still was not prepared.  This was going to get really ugly, really quickly and he knew it.

 _"I am you, and you are me,"_ Dojima's Shadow replied.  _"I am the reflection of the true self that you seek to hide beneath willful ignorance."_

Adachi had to stare a moment; wow, his partner's Shadow was a lot wordier than he thought he would be.  Dojima was usually really short and to the point, so hearing that much out of his mouth at once about the same thing was a bit of a shock.

"That's ridiculous," Dojima replied, as expected.

 _"Ridiculous?"_ the Shadow replied, moving its head slightly.  Even that small movement looked like it took a supreme amount of effort, like the thought of change was exceedingly abhorrent to the creature.  Given Dojima's nature, Adachi was not entirely surprise that would be the personality flaw that would be exaggerated.

 _"Ridiculousness is chasing ghosts,"_ the Shadow continued.  _"Ridiculousness is allowing the past to continue to haunt you, long after the shades have been buried behind you."_

Dojima let out an irritated noise, starting forward, leaving the other three to scramble up behind him.  It was just going to be any moment now before the words of pain were uttered, before things got exceedingly worse and they would need to fight.  Adachi swallowed in unease as he could hear the stirrings of Shadows around them, the oppressive feeling from before becoming more and more threatening by the second.

"What the hell is that supposed to mean?" Dojima demanded, stopping and looking down at the Shadow.  Though he was blinded, the yellow eyes could still be felt staring back at him, grizzled mouth twisted into an unsettling, unnatural smile that clearly had him rattled, but he was refusing to act on it.

 _"You need an explanation?"_ the Shadow hissed.  _"You live in the past.  Around you, the world revolves, moving ever forward into the future, and yet you stay.  You perpetually remain in that one moment, relive it every night and allow it to eat away at your consciousness like a parasite, until it is all you think of, all you desire.  You cannot see what you have, and the joy that it brings.  Only the suffering exists for you; only the weakness that swallows your mind and leaves you lacking, both as a parent and as a detective.  Pathetic."_

Adachi did not need to be looking right at Dojima to know that what his Shadow said was having an impact.  It was all in his stance and posture, from the slight tremble to his frame to how hard his fists were clenched at his sides.

"That's… not true," he tried to argue, but the objection sounded completely hollow, the irritation Dojima had been displaying before completely sapped out of him.

 _"Is it?"_ the Shadow replied.  _"So it is not true that you completely removed yourself from Her life, letting Her find Her own way with the barest minimal guidance?  It is not true that you neglected your duty as a parent to teach Her and raise Her?  It is not true that you even neglect your duty as an officer, never giving a case brought before you your full focus, because you are forever trapped on the one you cannot and will never solve?"_

Dojima took a step back from the Shadow as the white ghost from before returned, wrapping around the Shadow.  He did not even react to its presence, instead remaining where it was, a clear display of Dojima's inability to move forward with his life, forever remaining stagnant.  It hurt Adachi to see it, mostly because of the fact that he should have been able to… if he had bothered to pay enough attention.  Now that it was before him, it was just so painfully obvious.

"Dojima-san…" he began, but his partner shook his head, tense to the point of snapping.

"No… just… no.  This isn't how things are," he tried to protest.  "This… this isn't—"

Naoto looked like she was going to protest, to try and warn Dojima against saying the words that would lead to so much difficulties for the three of them.  Adachi raised an arm, cutting her off before she could say anything; they all had gone through this, and it always had the same end result.  Trying to protest would be a waste of breath, and trying to force Dojima not to would only hurt him in the end.

He glanced back at her and Saki, before giving a small nod, silently telling them to prepare themselves.

 _"This isn't like you?"_ the Shadow rasped.  _"This is exactly you.  This is your weakness and your suffering.  The choice to move forward or stagnate is yours and yours alone.  The fact that you cannot see this is your failing, no one else's.  Weak, pathetic, failure; you fail to protect the ones you love, you fail to nurture the ones you love, and you fail to persist as a human being.  This is why I am you, and you are me; forever left in a single place apart from the rest of the world."_

There it was, the point that Dojima snapped.  He threw his hand out as if that were enough to force the Shadow away, rage clear in his expression, but there was also that fear; he was already acknowledging that maybe, just maybe, the Shadow was right, but he could not completely accept it, not yet.

"That's a lie!" Dojima snapped.  "You're nothing like me!"

A twisted grin appeared on the Shadow's face, and it moved, stretching stiff arms up toward the sky as darkness gathered around the spot it was sitting, engulfing ghost and Shadow both.  Dojima backed away as the darkness grew and stretched, stumbling backward until he bumped into Adachi.  His hands snapped out, grabbing onto his partner before the both of them could fall over, and he did not need to look to see the rage and the hurt had been replaced with confusion and fear.

The darkness continued to grow, until a massive hand suddenly came out from within, coming down to the ground with such force that the entire area shook.  Adachi and the others stumbled back, fighting to keep their footing as the Shadow pulled itself out from the darkness, revealing a creature that looked more like a stump brought to life.  Knobby, calloused arms and legs stuck out at odd angles, struggling against a massive weight of junk on its back.  Adachi could see at least one white car on there for certain, though the rest was such a twisted conglomeration of garbage that it was hard to tell what was what.  Dirty, unkempt black hair hid the monster's face from view, though not enough that they could not see a yellow eye, blazing a glare at them from behind the filthy strands.

 _"I am a Shadow, the true self,"_ the creature boomed, making the ground shudder with only its voice.  Adachi took a step back, though mostly because he could feel Dojima wanting to get away from the thing his Shadow had become than anything else. _"What need have we to live in the present?  The past is a safer, secure way to exist."_

Saki hurried forward then, clutching her knives in both hands.  It was the most spirited Adachi had seen her in some time, and he stared in surprise, not sure what to make of it.  She glanced back at him, giving him a quick wink.

"This is just the usual, right?" she asked.  "I know I've gotten stronger, so this has got to be easy.  We'll be back and helping the others find Nanako-chan before they know it, so take care of Dojima-san, Adachi."

He blinked at the lack of honorific at the end, before a smile crept up onto Adachi's face.  Saki seemed… _better,_ like she had grown, and not just her powers.  She flashed him an encouraging look in return, spinning a knife around in her hand as she turned back to the Shadow.

"Let's go!  _Kushinada!"_

The Empress Arcana card responded to her as always, but everything else was completely different from usual.  A woman appeared at her command, green kimono flooding about her as she spun about, fans that looked more like combs in each hand.  The helmet she wore was at least vaguely familiar, though it was more streamlined and lacked the eyestalks that Tsunade had.  Instead a visor extended over where the eyes would be, and the yellow of the Persona's eyes could just be seen beneath, and the sides of the helmet extended back, also looking like combs.  Kushinada's hair escaped from under the helmet as well, long and dark, and looped around her arms, tied at each end with a green wrap.

More than that, however, was Adachi could even feel how much power Saki and her new Persona had gained from her growth.  Was that really because of all of this?

At Saki's command, Kushinada danced on the air, flinging her comb-like fans at Dojima's massive Shadow.  The creature barely flinched at the attack, the massive junk pile on its back creaking and groaning as it moved to retaliate.  It was far too slow for Saki, however; both person and Persona ducked out of the way with relative ease, Kushinada retaliating with a blast of wind that… also barely did anything.

"It's tough!" Saki exclaimed.  "I can't even tell if I'm hurting it!"

 _"You are… a little,"_ Sayoko's voice suddenly filled their heads.  _"I can't get a good reading on it, but I can see that you're doing_ some _damage, even if it isn't that much."_

"Let's see if I can make a difference," Naoto offered, reaching out for her Fortune card.

Sukuna-Hikona appeared as always, the tiny Persona zipping toward the Shadow, light sword flashing as he struck out at it.  The Shadow tried to swap him away, but like with Kushinada, he was too fast for it to catch.  Sukuna-Hikona swung around, raising an arm to the air, and calling down a brilliant ball of light.  It landed on the Shadow, exploding and finally doing some kind of visible damage, knocking some of the junk off the creature's back as it staggered from the hit.

 _"Looks like anything physical and elemental will do minimal damage to it,"_ Sayoko offered.  _"If you can keep up with attacks like that last one, you'll be able to beat it down."_

Adachi glanced over at Naoto, seeing the stress lines running all over her face at Sayoko's words.  Clearly just one of those blasts was more than enough for her to have her Persona do.  His gaze went back to Dojima, who looked completely and utterly lost in a sea of confusion, not that he could blame him.  Shadows, Personae, and now a voice in his head all at once?  For someone as grounded in reality as Dojima was, that much unbelievable things happening at once was enough to make anyone question their sanity.

"Saki, take over here," Adachi called, and Saki hurried over to Dojima's side as he let him go, stepping forward to stand with Naoto.  He paused, glancing down at her, and she returned his gaze, a mix of uncertainty and distrust on her face.  It did not bother him as much as he thought it would; he knew he deserved pretty much anything she wanted to throw at him, but at the moment, they needed to put that aside.

"Together?" he asked softly.

Naoto hesitated, before nodding slowly.

Progress.

Adachi shook his hands out, rocking his head back and forth on his shoulders.

"I don't have any with spells like that, but I can make sure to cover you while you recover," he said, receiving a confirmation nod in return.

"All right… watch my back," she murmured softly.

Adachi smiled faintly, making a note to spend some time with her after this was all over, before he turned his attention to the Shadow.  Back to business now; if it could not be affected by anything except big blasts like Naoto had at her disposal, then maybe status effects would bother it?  Only one way to find out.  He reached out, calling on the Devil Arcana, the back of his mind wondering if Sayoko could see this and if she would approve.

_"Lilith!"_

The woman that appeared… well, if it were not for the snake wrapped around convenient places, then she would have been completely exposed for everyone to see.  He could hear Naoto let out an exasperated noise next to him, but he set aside his embarrassment – why _were_ a lot of his Personae scantily clad women anyway? – and instead focused on the Shadow, watching as Lilith lifted a hand to her lips.  She blew a kiss toward the gargantuan creature, sending with it a cloud of enervating gas.  It consumed it, and the Shadow let out a groan, trying to shake it away, but the gas was clearly having an effect.  Moss was creeping up on the creature's arms, and it looked like its grayish skin was wrinkling, like it was aging rapidly before their eyes.

An enraged noise erupted from the Shadow, and before Adachi had a chance to react, beams of light shot up around Lilith.  The Persona let out a scream as the light speared into her, and he let out a grunt, wrapping his arms around his midsection as he fell to his knees.

"Adachi-san!"

"Fine…!" he gasped out.  "I'm fine!  Hit it again!"

For a moment, Naoto looked torn, like she really would have rather make sure he was actually okay rather than take his word for it.  She shook her head, turning her focus to Sukuna-Hikona instead, and the Persona responded by letting loose another one of those blasts.  The white sedan fell off the Shadow's back then, crashing loudly on its nose, before falling over, crushing the cabin of the vehicle.  A stricken noise came from behind them, and Adachi glanced back to see that Dojima was shaking, completely off balance and nothing like the old time gruff detective he was used to dealing with.

He was pretty sure he got it now, what his partner's problem really was.  It was not just his wife's death, or the fact that he had to raise Nanako by himself, or the fact that he had a job that demanded most of his time.

It was everything, all at once.

Adachi forced himself back to his feet, brushing his knees off, before reaching out.  Death answered his call, and White Rider appeared, riding on the air as always, the many eyes on his horse all focused on the Shadow.  He notched an arrow, the head bursting alight with fire before he let it go.  The shaft sunk into the creature's shoulder, before erupting into flames.  With enervation still in effect, the hit had much more impact than usual, knocking more off the giant's back; papers flew everywhere, many of them looking like old case reports; a few broken toys that might have been Nanako's fell as well, smashing to the ground and getting trampled under the Shadow's feet.

He paused then, glancing back at Dojima once again.  His partner's eyes flicked down to him, and Adachi spared him a small smile.

"…it's hard, isn't it?  Bearing the weight of everything around you on your shoulders like that."

Dojima looked both surprised and conflicted.  He clearly still did not know what to make of anything going on at the moment, and even more surprised by the person that stood before him.  It looked and talked like Adachi, but there was a maturity there that he had not seen.  Adachi was not sure what was more of a shock for him: the fact that he had changed that much or the fact that Dojima missed it entirely over the course of the year.  It was a moment, before his partner's shoulders sagged, a sigh escaping from him with it.

"Yeah…" he murmured softly.  "Everything just piles up, until you can't even see the original reason why it was there."

The Shadow let out another groan, staggering back as it was weakened further by Dojima's resolve.  Saki hurried over to stand by Adachi then, the three of them nodding to one another, before she called back Kushinada, and Adachi switched back to his own Arcana.  Izanagi led the charge, lightning and wind and the flash of swords engulfing the Shadow until there was a mess of garbage on the ground, and the creature was shrinking back down to size.  There was a tense moment, as they were not sure if it was just returning to normal or just going to another, smaller form.

Dojima broke through the tension, walking past the line of offense the three of them had as the gnarled old man that was his Shadow reappeared, not stopping until he was standing in front of him.  The Shadow's blindfolded eyes turned up to him, expression much more subdued than before.  Even with it calmed, it still took Dojima a moment to find the right words for what he wanted to say; he swallowed hard, his fists clenching at his sides, before he turned slightly, to where the car was still laying crushed on its roof.

"…it's hard for me to let things go," he finally admitted.  "Chisato's death… I couldn't handle it.  I still can't; for all the good I've done as an officer and a detective, the fact that I couldn't even find one hit and run driver just killed me inside.  And once that happened, everything went with it… even if I said it didn't bother me, it was another burden on my shoulders, something I had to concern myself with, when all I wanted was to bury myself in the past… because it was easier.  Because I could still find her murderer if it was still fresh there."

The Shadow folded his gnarled hands on his lap as Dojima returned his gaze to him, waiting patiently for the words that would come next.

"…this is me.  You are me."

A smile came to the Shadow's face as blue light engulfed it, and it transformed once again.  He stood tall now, gleaming, almost white knight-like armor locked over the robe and hakama he wore.  The mask was almost like a half visor, covering the eyes and fanning out behind it, but much like Kushinada, it left the Persona's hair free, tied up on both sides of his head.  In his arms, a small white rabbit was cradled protectively in one, while the other held out a massive broad sword, one that was almost too big for the Persona.  It turned around in his hands, stabbing into the ground before disappearing into a card.  The Hierophant rotated before Dojima, and he looked at it uncertainly, not sure what to even do with it as it disappeared into his soul.

"This…?"

Adachi snorted faintly; even after all he had seen, Dojima could not figure out what was going on?  Geeze… stubborn did not quite describe him well enough.

"Heh… welcome to the Persona club, partner," he said after a moment.

Dojima turned toward him after that, walking up to him, his expression hard to read… before his fist came up and clocked Adachi on top of his head.  Adachi let out a yelp, ducking down as he held his head in pain, Saki and Naoto jumping back with varied expressions of alarm and amusement.

"How the _hell_ have you managed to keep something like this a secret for this long?!" Dojima demanded.

"I-I told you!  Because you wouldn't believe me!" Adachi protested.  "You didn't have to hit me!"

Dojima looked like he wanted to argue further, but his expression dropped as a wave of dizziness made him wobble unsteadily on his feet.  Adachi snapped back upright, grabbing for his partner to help him stay on his feet.

"Whoa, okay; we've got to get you out of here."

Dojima shook his head stubbornly, though he still leaned on Adachi for support.  "What about Nanako?  She's trapped in this place too, isn't she?"

"Don't worry," Saki assured him.  "The others in our group are going after her.  She'll be okay."

 _"About that…"_ Sayoko suddenly spoke up in their heads, and Dojima's snapped up, looking around like he was trying to find her.  Adachi let out a sigh at that; man, there was going to be so much he was going to have to explain…  _"The others are having trouble.  The path is a lot longer than the one you're on; there's a lot more Shadows for them to contend with."_

"Right," Adachi replied.  "We'll drop Dojima-san off with you and—"

"No, I'm going too," Dojima cut him off, shooting him a glare.  Adachi fumbled, trying to protest, only to let out a tired sigh instead.  No, it was no use arguing with him; it was his daughter in there, and he was already here.  Even if they dropped him off with Sayoko, he was just going to come after them anyway.

"…okay, _we'll_ head over and join up with them."


	43. Chapter Thirty-three – Feels Like Heaven

The surroundings of the storybook Heaven may have been pleasant, but their group of four soon discovered that it was really anything but.  There were so many different types of Shadows, from the balancing dishes they had seen before to some of the stone statues of angels that lined the path coming to life, to massive stone arms holding swords of justice to cut them down with and what looked like cloaked mages out to fry them where they stood.  It was fortunate that they were plus one compared to the other group, but it did not take much to see that they all wanted the others there with them as well.

It felt like an eternity passed them by before they were finally able to find an area devoid of Shadows, and Teddie fell over, rolling around the room in his exhaustion.

"This is so beary hard without sensei around…!" he whined as others rested, either by sitting down on the ground or resting against the garden planters that were around them.

"I never realized how much Adachi-san contributed to the group," Yukiko added, biting her lip in concern.  "Since he started changing… I almost forgot how things were like before."

"No kiddin'," Kanji grumbled.

They slipped into a contemplative silence… so it was easy for them to hear when a familiar scream ripped through the space.  Kanji snapped right up to his feet, looking around like he expected the owner of that scream to be right there in the room with them.

"Th-that sounded like Naoto!" he exclaimed.  Rise was on her feet as well, looking like she was about ready to bolt back the way they came, despite how hard it had been to get where they were.

_"Relax, everyone; there's nothing to worry about."_

They all froze at Sayoko's voice in their heads, and turned around, expecting her to be in the room with them.  She let out a faint laugh at their reactions, and it was easy for them to picture the smile on her face.

 _"My Persona allows me to keep in contact with other Persona users,"_ she explained.  _"Don't worry about the other group; it was just Adachi being… well, Adachi."_

"That's every reason to worry," Kanji protested, grumbling under his breath as he folded his arms over his chest.  Yukiko let out a faint giggle at that, covering her mouth with a hand and trying not to burst into hyena laughter – really, when it came to Naoto, Kanji was absolutely precious.  Rise tossed her an amused look of her own, before she stretched, arms reaching up in the air as far as she could.

"Well, I guess we shouldn't rest too long," she began.  "We don't know how much farther we need to go to get to Nanako-chan."

A nod passed between the group, and they were setting off again, deeper into Heaven.  The Shadows thinned out slightly, as if sensing their urgency to get deeper into the dungeon, but of course that changed quickly enough.  The higher up they went, the more creatures were waiting for them, trying to block their path deeper in.  It did not help that it seemed like the sun was setting the farther in they went, making it harder to see and easier for them to be ambushed.

Kanji let out a frustrated noise after awhile, punching one of the mage-like Shadows in the face.  It disappeared as soon as it hit the ground, leaving them with a breather for the moment.

"There's just no end to these damn things," he growled, before raising his voice.  "Hey, all you damn Shadows!  How about cutting us a break!"

 _"I don't think that's how these things work…"_ Sayoko pointed out, sounding amused.

It seemed that Sayoko was about to eat her words; the ground started to rumble beneath their feet, and Teddie let out a surprised whine, flailing his arms around.  Rise looked up, just as a massively large version of the balance dishes crashed into the ground, knocking her and Yukiko off their feet.  The Shadow spun around on its post, the dishes flying out as a blast of wind shot out, knocking Kanji off his feet.

_"Or I could be wrong…"_

"Kanji, this is your fault!" Rise shouted at him, jumping back to her feet.

"Th'hell you yellin' at me for?!"

Rise ignored him, which only served to irritate Kanji more.  Instead she focused on summoning the Lovers to her, bringing out her Persona once again.  It had changed sometime before their arrival there, going from a black to silver body and a white and black striped dress that was split at the sides.  The satellite dish crown she wore had expanded, and more of the little speakers hovered around, with an added speaker and subwoofer set up on the Persona's hips.  Rise clutched her new microphone, giving the Shadow a wink as she struck a pose.

"Risette and Kanzeon are here~!" she exclaimed, the speaker bits flying out and striking at the giant Shadow.  It swayed unsteadily, dishes swinging back and forth, and Rise changed her stance, wrapping both hands around the microphone.

"C'mon, guys; let's get pumped!"

The speakers sent out a visible wave of sound, giving strength to the others around her.  Teddie puffed himself up, flexing his arms.

"All right!  Let's do this!  _Kintoki-Douji!"_

His canister-like Persona appeared, spinning around on the ground before popping up, flinging its arms out as a massive block of ice came crashing down on the balancing dishes.  They swung back and forth, but the Shadow persisted, spinning around and casting a wind spell again, catching up Teddie and his Persona, and sending both spiraling up into the air.  Yukiko stepped up as the bear came crashing back to the ground, Konohana Sakuya's flames engulfing the Shadow and setting the post of it on fire.  It started to crumble at that, and Rise's speaker bits pummeling it once again put it out of its misery.

"Geeze, Moronji, what are you doing?" she asked, spinning her microphone stand around and tucking it under her arm.  Kanji let out an annoyed noise, looking like he was going to punch something.

"Lay off, will 'ya?  It just caught me off guard!"

 _"Are you sure you all are going to be all right?"_ Sayoko asked, her concern obvious.

"We can handle this," Rise replied, sounding confident as she went over to help Teddie back to his feet.

"Yeah, as long as Kanji pays attention," Yukiko added.

_"What are you two gangin' up on me for?!"_

Sayoko let out a sigh in their heads.  _"All right… be sure to let me know if you need help."_

"We'll be bear-iffic, Sayo-chan!" Teddie exclaimed as he dusted his fur off.  "Don't you worry about us."

Sayoko let out a faint giggle in their heads, before falling silent.  Their group pushed on, and it seemed the Shadows in that section had died down a bit, maybe out of fear of their group.  That changed as soon as they reached the next floor, however, as the Shadows seemed to be coming out of the gardens themselves.  They all were forced on the attack, and at one point had to resort to using Kintoki-Douji to barrel an empty line through the enemies.

"Startin' to regret splitting up!" Kanji shouted as they made a break for it.

"W-we can still handle this!" Rise protested, swinging her microphone stand around and smacking a Shadow in what was supposed to be its face.

By some miracle, they made it past the hoard of Shadows in their path and into the next room.  The beanstalk leading up to the next floor was right there… and blocking their path was a Shadow that looked like it was out of a book of Japanese folklore, being held up by two living stone statues that were bouncing back and forth.  They managed to skid to a stop when they saw it, but the Shadow was already waving the staff it held at them, calling on a massive cloud of gas that exploded in their faces.  Yukiko dropped to her knees, coughing horribly, but Kanji managed to cover his mouth as he stepped forward, grimacing his way through the attack.

"Who said you could get in our way, dammit!?" he demanded, cracking his knuckles before he reached out, punching his Emperor Arcana card when it appeared.  _"Rokuten Maoh!"_

Kanji's Persona was still a massive hulk of a creature, but instead of the dark coverings and bone designs, it was now completely red, with flame designs looking like it was engulfing it.  The Persona held a flaming sword as well, which it brought crushing down on the Shadow's skull, knocking it completely off of the statues that were holding it up.  The Shadow flailed angrily, climbing back onto the statues as it waved its staff.  A brilliant ball of light came down from above, exploding over them and knocking them all clear off their feet.

"Ow…" Rise murmured, struggling to get back up, using her microphone stand for support.  "This one's a lot stronger than the other one…!"

The Shadow settled itself on the statues, looking like it was winding up for another attack, when a blast of wind suddenly buffeted the creature, followed by the flash of a sword.  They looked up to see Izanagi hovering over the creature, reversing his grip on his nodachi, before stabbing down on the Shadow.  It disappeared into a cloud of darkness, just as the sound of people running to catch up with them came from behind.  Adachi was coming up alongside Rise in the next moment, reaching a hand out to help her up.

"Sorry we're late; got turned around by a ghost that thought it was being hilarious," he said, a flippant smile coming to his face.  Behind him, from where she was helping Kanji, Naoto visibly flinched, shooting a deadly glare at the back of Adachi's head.  Saki went over to help Teddie roll himself up as Adachi offered his other hand to Yukiko… and then there was Dojima, standing there looking both exhausted and awkward all at once.

"Dude, what'd you bring him for?" Kanji asked, trying to stand on his own feet and not put too much of a burden on Naoto.  "You shoulda left him with Sayoko."

"Don't talk like I'm not here, Tatsumi," Dojima shot back, not tired enough to not be annoyed by that.  "That's my daughter the murderer grabbed and shoved in here.  I'm not sitting back and waiting for you all to rescue her, especially when you four nearly got yourselves killed just now."

Kanji let out an irritable grumble, and Adachi let out a breath, rubbing at the back of his neck.  Oh boy, they really were one heck of a motley group, hunh?

"But are we really sure that it's the murderer that kidnapped Nanako-chan?" Yukiko asked.

"There was a note left on my desk, before all this started," Adachi explained, not missing the irritated look being directed at him.  Really, did Dojima think he was not going to share the details of this case with his team?  They were the only ones that could even do anything about it, after all.  "It used the same language the killer used, not his accomplice."

 _"If you all are done talking…"_ Sayoko popped into their heads, cutting off further conversation.  _"I've managed to get a scan of the next floor up.  Nanako-chan is there, but there's… something else.  I think your murderer escaped into this world with her."_

Dojima did not say anything; he immediately went for the beanstalk that would take them to the next floor, grabbing onto one of the vines and hoisting himself up.  Adachi called after him to wait, but by the time he got to the stalk himself, his partner was already half way up.  He let out an exasperated noise, shaking his head as he grabbed a vine, hauling himself up after him, with the others just behind.

They came out onto a platform with a giant, golden gate.  The sun had sunk far below the horizon by now, making the area look like it was blanketed in near twilight.  Adachi could feel a sort of tension in the air, thick and overwhelming, but it did not seem to be bothering Dojima, who was going right for the golden gate.  He muttered a curse under his breath, hurrying over to help him.

"Dojima-san, I know it's Nanako-chan, but you've got to calm down," he pointed out, grunting from the effort it took to get the door open.  Dojima opened his mouth to respond, but was cut off as Nanako's voice echoed around them.

_"Mom… why did you go away?  Why did you have to die…?"_

Dojima snapped his mouth closed, looking around in surprise, before his eyes fell on Adachi.  Concern crossed his face then, and he knew what his partner was going to ask before he said it.

"You don't think… she'll have one of those things too, do you?" he asked, just as the others caught up with them.

Before Adachi could answer, however, the golden doors suddenly snapped open on their own, knocking the two of them to the ground.  Dojima was the first to look up, seeing a trail of gardens, framing a golden staircase leading up to a raise dais, and…

"Nanako!" Dojima bellowed, up on his feet and running for the stairs before Adachi could protest.  A growl of annoyance escaped from the younger detective, and Saki helped him back up to his feet as the others ran after him, up the golden stairs.  They all ended up stopping short, however; just as Sayoko warned them, Nanako was not alone, and the person with her had his arm around her tight, keeping a firm grip as he pulled her back.

Behind him, Adachi heard Yukiko let out a gasp, before she pushed her way around him, shocked at who was trying to keep Nanako away from them.

"Ichijou-kun?!"

Kou Ichijou retreated further at being recognized, clutching at Nanako despite her protests.  Adachi glanced at Yukiko, before looking back at Kou, eyes widening slightly.  He remembered this guy; he was in an argument with his friend at the high school's festival.  _This_ was supposed to be their murderer?  This wide eyed kid that looked like he was completely out of his mind?  Kou's eyes kept flicking around, back and forth, like he was expecting someone other than them to be there.  Something did not feel right, but he did not have the chance to dwell on it.

"Let go of my daughter, now!" Dojima demanded, and Kanji had to grab onto him to keep him from bum rushing Kou.

Kou backed up further anyway, and Nanako let out a faint sound of protest.  She looked like she was not feeling well, and Adachi could only guess the strain this world put on people was affecting her more than it had affected the others.  The fact that she was getting dragged around by a crazy kid probably did not help matters.

"S-stay away from me…!" Kou protested.

Naoto pushed her way to stand beside Dojima, concern on her face.

"We need to draw his attention away from Nanako-chan; try to calm him down," she murmured softly.  Her gaze flicked over to Dojima, and he looked like he wanted to protest, even though he knew she was right.  He let out a conflicted noise, but still calmed down enough that Kanji could let go of him.  Naoto nodded faintly, before turning her focus on Kou.

"Why are you doing this?" she asked.

Kou paused, staring at Naoto for a long moment, before a slow, unsettling smile crept onto his face.

"You… you're one of the ones I've saved…" he began, his voice wavering unsteadily.  "You're okay still… I knew… I knew you would be.  I knew that I could keep people safe…!"

Naoto took a step back, clearly unsettled by his disturbing behavior.

"Keep us safe?" Yukiko protested, sounding disturbed herself.  "We nearly died!"

"I-I know… That's the point," Kou replied, a not-quite-sane smile creeping onto his face.  Adachi frowned; something about this just did not feel right.

"Sayoko, is there anything else here?" he asked softly.

 _"I'm not sure…"_ Sayoko answered, sounding unsettled herself.  _"Something feels off, but I can't pinpoint what it is."_

Adachi frowned, glancing back at the scene before him.  This could get really bad, really quickly, especially with that unsettling feeling that seemed to pervade the area.  Naoto was right, they did need to take Kou's attention off of Nanako, but they also needed him to let _go_ of her as well.

"All right, Ichijo-kun," he began, speaking slowly.  He was pulling on everything he knew, everything he had learned in his time as an officer and a detective; all the attitudes and responsibilities he had shrugged off and ignored before were coming to him all at once.  "Everyone here is safe; everyone you've saved; they're all safe.  That's why we're here; to make sure everyone stays safe as well, so let us help you do that, okay?"

For a moment, Kou wavered, his grip on Nanako loosening as it seemed like he would let her go and let them get out of here before anything went wrong.  That changed quickly, however; he shook his head, like someone was there, whispering in his ear and reminding him what he needed to do.  His grip on Nanako tightened again, and he stepped further away from them, toward the center of the dais and forcing them up the stairs the rest of the way to keep them in sight.

"No.  No!  You're trying to trick me!  You're trying to kill her!"

There was a hiss like television static, and darkness suddenly came rushing in from all corners of Heaven, surrounding Kou and Nanako both.  Nanako let out a pained sounding cry, like the presence of the darkness was enough to hurt her, as Kou let out a low, unsettling laugh, his eyes starting to change, until they were glowing yellow, just like a Shadow.

"I'll protect this girl!" he shouted.  "I'll make sure no one has to die like she did!  Never again!  No more!"

The darkness engulfed Nanako and Kou both, and they could still hear her screaming as the dais before them turned into a raging tornado of Shadows, as if Kou's very insanity had drawn them all to him.  Dojima rushed forward then before Kanji could stop him, trying to get through to his daughter before anything terrible happened, but the darkness repelled him, knocking him back into the group.  Kanji managed to catch him, though the force of him being thrown nearly knocked them both to the ground.

They steadied themselves just as something _dark_ began to loom above them.  Kou had become some kind of… creature, human-like in appearance but so far removed from humanity that it broke any understanding of such.  A spiraling red crown encircled his black head, red and yellow spiraled eyes rotating completely independent of each other.  The long black and red striped body was covered by a white sheet and looked like it was extending out forever, even after it had finally finished growing to size far above them. Both arms extended out, like some kind of peaceful Buddha, with Nanako securely clenched between two fingers.

 _"Nanako!"_ Dojima bellowed.

They could hear her coughing high above them, the faint murmur of, "Daddy," reaching their ears.  He looked like he was going to charge right up… whatever it was that Kou had turned into.  Adachi was fairly certain it was not a Shadow, but he could not quite pinpoint _what_ it was supposed to be.

"Sayoko, can you get a reading on that thing?" he called out as Kanji had to struggle with Dojima, yelling at him that it was not worth charging in without knowing what they were up against.

 _"Barely,"_ Sayoko replied.  _"It's making my monitors fritz out.  I can pick out Ichijou-san in the core of that thing, but it's not his Shadow, or any kind of Shadow as near as I can tell."_

"Not a Shadow…?" Saki echoed, glancing over at Adachi, concern obvious on her face.

 _"Just start hitting it with everything you've got,"_ Sayoko suggested.  _"Maybe if you weaken it, I'll be able to get a clearer reading to help you!"_

"It's the only option we have right now," Naoto agreed, extending her arm.  _"Sukuna-Hikona!"_

The small Persona appeared, zipping up the length of the creature, sword flashing the entire way up as he struck out at it.  It did not seem to be doing much good, and as soon as he got close enough, the strange creature swatted Sukuna-Hikona away like he was a fly.  Naoto winced in pain, and Adachi could see Nanako swaying back and forth in the creature's hands from the movement.

"Dammit, we need to be ready to catch Nanako if that thing loses its grip on her," he pointed out, before calling his own Arcana to him.  Izanagi came rushing out to pick up where Sukuna-Hikona left off, with Kushinada appearing just behind him, wind lashing out to help him.  The creature let out a groan, weathering the attack easily enough; it really did not seem like it _could_ be hurt, and Adachi was starting to suspect that maybe it was like how it was with Dojima's shadow, and how they were hurting it, just not that much.

 _"S-stay away…!"_ the creature bellowed, sounding like Kou and… something _else;_ something that was not supposed to have contact with humanity, let alone like this.  _"I… I will save her… I will save everyone with this beautiful fog!"_

The fog…?  Adachi did not get a chance to puzzle out what he meant; the creature raised both arms, Nanako dangling back and forth precariously, before opening its massive mouth wide.  Beams of light shot out from its maw, engulfing their entire group and tearing through the ground.  He could hear Teddie and Yukiko scream, and could just barely make out Naoto crumpling to the ground before the light faded.  Even still, it lingered in his eyes, and he blinked fitfully, desperately trying to see properly.  A hand was on his shoulder in the next moment, and Adachi turned to see Dojima next to him, pulling him away from where a part of the dais had shot up from the attack, coming within centimeters of impaling him.

Kanji was still standing as well, and Saki was barely holding on, but the rest of their team was out cold after that attack.  Adachi let out a concerned noise, looking around and feeling utterly lost; what was he supposed to do like this?  They had been doing so well; they were not supposed to have problems like this now that he had gotten his head in the game!  He felt paralyzed, helpless… and when he tried to move, tried to do something to help, he found he could not.

Adachi's eyes widened in fear as suddenly his body started moving on its own, approaching the creature that had consumed Kou, before turning around to face the others.  Curious looks were directed at him as he raised a hand, and Adachi knew what he was about to do, but despite all the screaming his mind was doing, telling him to _stop, please,_ he just could not keep the Fool Arcana from appearing.  He could not keep Izanagi from coming to him, and despite how much even his own Persona was struggling to fight against it, he could not keep him from lashing out at the others that were still conscious.  Lightning rained down on the three of them, and Saki was left curled up in a ball, whimpering in pain.

"Adachi, what the hell?!" Dojima demanded.

Adachi struggled and fought, trying to tell them that it was not him; that he did not want to do this, that something was making him!  Unfortunately, his mouth did not want to move to form those words.  Instead his hand was twisting around, calling on the Death Arcana.  The White Rider appeared, arrow notched and aimed straight for Dojima's head… but it was not letting go.  It took Adachi a moment, before he realized that his other hand was holding onto his extended arm, like some part of him was struggling to hold back, to keep himself from letting White Rider loose that arrow at his partner.

 _"It's not Adachi!"_ Sayoko's voice filled his head.   _"There, above his head; something's controlling him!  Help him while he's frozen!"_

Adachi would have cried in relief if he was able to, even if Kanji and Dojima did not seem like they understood what was going on.  It did not keep Dojima from hurrying forward, reaching up above Adachi's head.  He could hear something grinding and the smell of burning flesh as his partner struggled, fighting with whatever it was that was forcing him to turn against them.  There was a loud _snap,_ and Adachi stumbled forward, able to move on his own again.  Dojima grabbed him before he could fall over, and he could feel more than see that his partner had really hurt himself trying to get him free.  He glanced up at him, a bit of a sheepish look on his face.

"Ah… heh… thanks, partner," he said, standing up straight.

He turned, glancing first at the ground to see the smashed red ring that had been around his head, looking much like the rings that were circling the creature above them.  His gaze turned up then, and White Rider did not hesitate to follow where his attention was drawn, finally letting loose the arrow it had been holding back.  It arced up, hitting the creature Kou had turned into right between its revolving eyes.  The creature let out a groan, rearing back.

_"I… I…!"_

Nanako let out a startled noise again as the creature flailed, and even from the distance they were at, it was easy to tell that she was going to fall sooner rather than later.  Dojima let out an annoyed noise, his hands tightening into fists at his sides.

"How do you do that?" he asked.  "What you've been doing; how do you call those things?"

Adachi glanced at him, surprised that he had not been able to figure it out yet.

"Your Persona's a part of you; a part of your soul," he explained.  "It's already there, within you; you just need to want it to come out."

Dojima frowned at that, not looking like he really understood, but that did not keep him from reaching out like they had been doing, trying to bring a card to his hand.  It took a bit for the Hierophant card to appear, glowing brilliantly before him, and he could not help but look a little surprised he was able to do it.  He snapped his hand closed around it, crushing it and calling back the white knight-like Persona they had seen before.

"O- _Okuninushi!"_

The Persona raised his sword, holding the rabbit close to him as he launched himself up, striking repeatedly, skirting out of the way before the creature could retaliate.  Once safely away, they could see the rabbit twitching its nose, casting one of those destructive energy orbs at the creature.  The explosion that followed sent the strange creature rocking backwards, Nanako finally falling from its grip.

Dojima shot forward before anyone else still conscious could react, skirting around the creature and coming up under Nanako, arms stretched out.  He let out a grunt as he caught her, staggering as he nearly fell over, but holding her close even before he could stabilize his footing, looking like he was close to crying.

"Nanako…!"

Adachi could hear her let out a weak noise that might have been, "Daddy," reaching up to wrap her arms tightly around Dojima's neck.  A faint smile came to his face, relief washing over him for the moment, before his gaze flicked up to the creature Kou had become.  It tried to hover itself down toward the ground, and Dojima hurried away, clinging tightly to his daughter.

_"Give… give back…!"_

The creature reared back, casting that spell that hurt them all so bad the last time again, but they were prepared for it this time.  Dojima curled himself around his daughter, holding her tight as he rolled out of the way, while Adachi and Kanji split, running to either side of the creature, allowing the spell to pass them by harmlessly.

As the dust and smoke from the attack faded, the others started to stir, with Teddie the first to squeak back up to his feet.  Naoto and Yukiko struggled back up to their feet as well, leaving Rise and Saki trying to move out of the way, both too injured to keep carrying on.  Adachi's gaze flicked over to each of them, nodding slightly to make sure the ones that were standing were actually okay enough to keep fighting.

"All right, let's finish this thing off!"

Kanji called on Rokuten Maoh first, the massive bruiser of a Persona reaching up and grabbing the creature by the white sheet it wore.  With a visible amount of effort, it brought the thing slamming down to the ground, kicking up debris from the broken dais.  Adachi followed up just after, a blast of lightning hitting the creature in the face as Kintoki-Douji rolled up behind, slamming his tomahawk missile right on its nose and bouncing away as it exploded.  Yukiko and Naoto followed up, flames from Konohana Sakuya lighting up the creature's sheet as Sukuna-Hikona shot straight up the middle, his sword blazing a trail behind him.

The creature let out a groan, a thin arm reaching up, like it was trying to plead with something from on high.  Adachi paused, before glancing over to where Dojima was crouched down, holding Nanako close.

"Dojima-san!  G'head and take the last blow!"

Dojima met his gaze, like he was not entirely sure what he was supposed to do.  After a moment, however, he held Nanako tight against his chest, her tiny hand coming up to cling to his shirt as he reached a hand out.

_"Persona!"_

Okuninushi shot out from where he was hovering nearby, the massive blade in his hand glinting in the dim sunlight.  He shot right to the creature's face, spinning the sword around, before plunging it downward with enough force to split the thing's head wide open.  Darkness shot out, and everyone had to duck and cover themselves as the groan of Shadows erupted around them, more than a few voices crying out in surprise as they tried to protect themselves.  Adachi grit his teeth, forcing himself to stand up straight as he reached for the Justice Arcana.

_"Melchizedek!"_

His robotic sentai angel came to life before him, striking a pose, before a burst of light suddenly shot out around it, engulfing the entire dais.  It pierced through the Shadows, forcing them to break apart or flee as the eruption of darkness slowly faded away.  It left them with just their group on the dais, with Kou standing where the monster had fallen, wavering unsteadily on his feet.

"H-how… why…?" he managed to get out, before falling over, unconscious.

Adachi stared at the teen for a long moment; he did not think this guy was their murderer, but… with what just happened, the situation was not looking so hot for him.  Just what _was_ that thing that had taken him over…?

A moment passed, before he shook his head; no point in dwelling on it now.  They were all hurting, and only two of them were not suffering from something, either dealing with the fog and gaining their Persona like Dojima, or in poor shape from the battle just now.  He let out a tired breath, catching the gaze of his teammates.  A few gave him an encouraging smile, pulling themselves up and dusting themselves off and trying to look like they were not in as much pain as they were.  A small smile came to Adachi's face at that, privately grateful that they would go through that kind of effort, but mostly grateful for _them_ and the fact they stuck by him this long.

"Nanako!"

The moment was cut off by Dojima, still holding onto Nanako tight, but she was not moving and the hand that had been clinging to his shirt had fallen limp to her side.  Despite looking as tired and worn as he was, Dojima was on his feet and running for the stairs, barely acknowledging the others were standing there.

"She's unconscious!" he yelled behind him in explanation.  "Adachi, get a move on!"

Adachi stared after him a moment, blinking in surprise, before he shrugged.

"Uh… can someone grab our suspect?"

~.oOOo.~

Dojima's rage and frantic concern had him going all the way to the hospital and up until Nanako was safely taken into the ICU before his own fatigue had him collapsing on top of an orderly.  He was taken off to his own room, along with the others that needed medical attention.  That left Adachi hanging around the ICU, pacing slightly as he waited for word on Nanako's condition.  It felt like forever before Sayoko came out, clutching her clipboard to her chest as she approached him, apprehension hanging around her like a shroud.

"How is she?" he asked, even though he suspected he knew the answer.

"She's stable, but still unconscious, and in a lot of pain," Sayoko replied.  "The doctor is keeping her monitored, but he doesn't understand what is wrong with her."

Adachi frowned at that, folding his arms over his chest.  "She's young… her Shadow didn't even appear.  Maybe the atmosphere in the TV had a bad effect on her."

"Perhaps…" Sayoko consented, looking uncertain for a moment, before she reached for his arm, giving it a squeeze.  "All we can do is keep her comfortable and hope her condition improves."

He nodded absently, reaching over to rest his hand over hers.  A small smile crept onto her face at the gesture, before she slipped away, checking her clipboard.

"Dojima-san should be awake now, though he may be a bit delirious if he is," she provided.  "The others I believe are resting; those that just had minor injuries are probably already on their way home."

Adachi let out a breath at that, grateful that everyone was okay, for the most part.  It still weighed heavily on his mind, however; how easily they could have been defeated if that creature had been more coordinated and in its right mind.  He should have been able to lead them all better than that…

He felt Sayoko move then, and she was slipping herself closer to him, forcing him to unfold his arms so she could fit more comfortably against him.  Of course, his face responded, turning a vivid shade of red as his mouth worked, trying to find the words to respond to that, before his head snapped up, trying to see if anyone else could see this.  She laughed softly at his expression, giving his hand a squeeze.

"Relax, 'leader'," she teased him.  "Dwelling on what happened will only make you tenser and put undue stress on your body.  If you don't ease up, I may just have to… _help_ you."

Adachi froze solid, mouth open and looking much like a fish.  She laughed at that, slipping away from him and clutching her clipboard back to her chest.

"I'm certain Dojima-san would appreciate you catching up on him," she pointed out, favoring him with a smile.  She started to move away, before she paused, a sly look on her face.  "…be sure to call me later."

Adachi practically wavered in place, knowing for certain that he had to look like an idiot.  He waited until she was out of sight before he slumped back against the wall, scratching at the side of his head as he struggled to get himself back to a human skin tone.  Oh man…

When he finally collected himself, he started down the hall away from the ICU, to one of the other wings where Dojima was being kept.  Peeking around the door revealed Dojima resting half upright, an arm draped over his stomach and looking like he was sleeping peacefully.  His hands were wrapped up, and Adachi flinched slightly; he remembered the smell of flesh burning when his partner had grabbed that damn ring.  That on top of everything else he had gone through while in the TV, Dojima had to be in a lot of pain; resting uninterrupted would probably be for the best.

Of course, he did not have enough luck to tiptoe away from the room uninterrupted.

"Where do you think you're going?"

Adachi jerked to a stop, planting a hand over his eyes and running it down his face as he turned, seeing that Dojima was very much awake and alert.  He swore his partner had the stubbornness of a mule with the durability of a mountain.  A moment of hesitation passed, where he spent most of it looking to see if a doctor or nurse would try and shoo him away from his room, before Adachi slipped inside, pulling a chair up to the side of his bed.

"You should be resting, you know," he pointed out, not that Dojima looked like he would care.

"You really think I can rest after what just happened?" Dojima replied, a cross look coming to his face, and Adachi had to bite back a sigh.  Oh boy, here it comes…  "I find out my partner has been working this whole case separately, hiding evidence and crucial information, get shoved into a TV, end up with this… _thing_ that's part of me, help save my daughter and capture our suspect all in one night and I'm supposed to _rest_ after that?"

Dojima raised his hand, and Adachi flinched, bracing himself for the hit that he knew was coming.  There was an awkward moment, like Dojima was debating where he was going to punch him… but instead his hand flopped on top of Adachi's head, like he was petting a good dog.

"…how have you managed to do all this all year without anyone knowing?"

Adachi peered up at him, feeling his face getting hot again.

"Ah… don't treat me like I'm some saint, Dojima-san," he finally muttered after a moment.  "I had a hard time accepting all this at first."

"Now why doesn't that surprise me?" Dojima replied, a smile coming to his face, before he let his hand drop, leaning back against the bed.  It was a moment before he spoke again, a grim expression coming to his face.  "It's been awhile since I've really felt like smiling.  Not since… Chisato died."

Adachi fell quiet at that, resting his elbows on his knees as he leaned forward, listening.  Dojima glanced at him, before letting out a breath.

"…Nanako was still very young.  Chisato was walking to the school to pick her up," he explained.  "It was raining, and the fog was bad.  I suspect the driver that hit her never even realized she was there until the impact, but they drove off anyway.  By the time someone found her, it was already too late."

He pressed a bandaged hand to his eyes, steadying himself.  "Nanako had been alone in the school yard the whole time, waiting for someone that was never going to come.  I promised myself that I would find who did it, that the person that killed my wife would pay for what they did… but there were too few clues, and the case went cold before long.

"But I couldn't turn away from it.  I had to keep searching, keep throwing myself in the past to hunt the bastard down… but in doing so, all I was doing was living there, living in a time where Chisato still lived and everything was okay… never mind that it wasn't."

Silence hug between them for a moment, before Dojima let out a sigh, a pained smile coming to his face.

"…I've missed how much Nanako has grown.  I've missed how much the town has changed around me," he began, before glancing over at Adachi.  "I missed how much you changed.  I see it now; looking back, it was the little things that showed you were trying.  How you finally got my coffee right, how you started holding yourself up a little taller.  You're not acting much like a rookie anymore."

Adachi stared for a moment, not knowing what to say as he felt that familiar warmth in his chest.  He ducked his head down as the embarrassment hit, trying not to let Dojima see him blushing again; he had not really changed _that_ much… had he?  He still could be a jerk, and he was pretty terrible at being a leader, as what they just went through showed.

"I-I have a lot to learn still, sir," he murmured in protest.  Dojima snorted, looking entirely too amused by Adachi's behavior.

"Yeah… and I'll make sure it gets through your thick skull, partner."


	44. Chapter Thirty-four – And as Closure Nears...

It was well near the end of November before Nanako regain consciousness long enough to be allowed visitors.  Everyone had been sure to be there the first day they were allowed, crowding around her and nearly getting chased right back out in the process.  Dojima and Seito were taking shifts at her side in the days that followed, and many nights the former ended up staying the night, even though he had long been discharged from the hospital.  Sayoko was sure to watch over him, especially once he fell asleep in his chair by Nanako's bedside, keeping a spare blanket on hand to wrap him up in.

Adachi had thought for sure that with his partner otherwise occupied, he would have more work put on his shoulders.  That turned out not to be the case, however; the only thing he had, other than the usual minor scuffles that came up in the police department, was to wait out for their captured suspect to wake up.  Even when Kou Ichijo _did_ wake up, he was not in any shape to talk to any of them, still so out of sorts that when he was conscious he was not making any sense whatsoever.

As things lulled in uncertainty, the tension that hung over Inaba seemed to worsen, and with it, came endless days of fog.  It was so thick on some days that many elected to stay home rather than try to navigate the streets.  Adachi did not dare try to drive in conditions this terrible, so he stuck to walking to get to where he needed to go, often holding on to Teddie's hand and bringing him to Saki's house himself whenever the bear needed to go to work.

It was on one of those days, where Adachi had to use his lunch break to make sure Teddie got to Saki's house safely, that he ended up nearly barreling into her in the street, the three of them letting out yelps as they fought not to fall over.

"Adachi-san?" she asked.  "I couldn't even _see_ you!"

"Yeah, same; this fog is getting ridiculous," Adachi protested.  "Is it always this bad this time of year?"

"Well, when it's colder, it does get sort of bad, but nothing like this," Saki admitted.

Teddie let out a concerned noise.  "It wasn't so hard to see at first, but now…" he began, sulking a little, like it was somehow his fault.  Adachi paused at that, rolling his eyes, before reaching over and mussing his blonde hair.  Of course, anything he had to say was cut off as he was nearly bumped into from behind, and he turned to see Kanji fumbling for his balance.

"Whoa, sorry man," he said, Rise peering around him curiously, having been clinging to his back before now.  "Been hard to see anything."

"We were just talking about that," Saki replied as Adachi frowned to himself.  This kind of fog… thick and deep, with the express purpose of feeling heavy and oppressive…  His hand shot into his jacket pocket, pulling out his TV world glasses and slipping them on, only to have his eyes nearly bug out of his head.

"Guys, put your glasses on," he ordered.

Confused looks passed between the other four, before Saki, Kanji, and Rise did as they were told.  Just as Adachi had experienced, as soon as the lenses of their glasses settled over their eyes, they could see perfectly, like the fog did not even exist.  Rise let out a worried noise, looking around like she expected what she was seeing to be a lie.

"This can't be… it's just like in the TV!" she exclaimed.

"What does that mean…?" Saki asked worriedly, biting her lip in uncertainty.

"I'm… not sure," Adachi replied, but a heavy feeling was settling in his stomach, remembering what happened the last time they were in the TV.  Back then, when Ichijo had been taken over by that strange creature, he said he would save everyone with the "beautiful fog".  If the fog in the TV world was that same fog, and Shadows lay hidden in that fog… would they appear in the real world as well?

He made a face at the thought, not sure he felt okay with Saki and Teddie going off to Junes alone with that revelation.  The streets in the town were the emptiest he had ever seen them, now that he could navigate without bumping into things.  Of the few people that were out, he could spot a housewife or two, and one person running around in a panic with a gas mask on.  Officers were already after him for disturbing the peace – what little peace there was at the moment – so he did not stop, but it did not help the feeling of unease, or the fact that he half expected the shadows around him to start moving…

He stayed with Saki and Teddie, making sure that they were safe going through the employee entrance of Junes, before going to leave, intent on making his way to the hospital.

"Oh, detective!"

Adachi fought back against a cringe, half tempted to bolt away from the store as fast as he could at the familiar voice.  Instead he did the polite thing and turned around, mentally preparing an excuse to get away from the old woman before he could be tormented with her cooking again, only to see that this time there was someone with her.  He blinked in surprise at the new face, before it finally clicked in his head that she had called him _detective,_ not _Tohru-chan._

The old woman looked up at the man next to her, a kindly smile on her face.

"Tohru-chan, this is the detective I was telling you about," she explained to him.  "The one with the same name as you."

"I see," the man replied, offering Adachi his hand.  He accepted the handshake, though he could not help but feel awkward.  Wait, this was the real Tohru-chan?  But he was so… neat and clean pressed; his hair was not even the same color as his!  They looked nothing alike!

"Thank you for being so kind to my mother," Tohru began, the same kindly smile on his face as his mother.  "I don't get to visit Inaba nearly as much as I should.  It's good to see that there's a detective here that's as kind as you are.

"Ah…" Adachi began, at a loss for words.  Kind?  Him?  Really?  He glanced at the old woman, before he managed a bit of a smile himself, even if it was a bit defeated.  "Yeah… it's the least I could do.  She seems lonely without you."

Tohru nodded at that, obviously concerned for his mother and grateful to Adachi at once.  It was weird, especially since he had been trying so hard to avoid her, but he could… sort of understand now, why she was the way she was, and his regret at not being able to help her.  That understanding brought that familiar warmth to his chest, but now he felt like an ass for being so dismissive of her.

She came up to her son then, giving his sleeve a tug.

"Oh, don't act like I'm helpless, Tohru-chan," she pouted at him.  "Come along then, let's stop bothering the nice detective.  I still need ingredients for nimono."

Adachi did not miss the practice resistance against a cringe as Tohru and his mother walked through the front doors of Junes, and he could not help but let out a rueful laugh once the doors closed behind him.

~.oOOo.~

Fortunately Adachi was able to make it to the hospital without incident, and as much as he wanted to go over to the ICU and check on Nanako and Dojima-san first, he needed to go to Ichijo's room and touch bases there.  Adachi knew of the two of them, he was going to be the one to keep a cool head around the kid; it was him that was going to need to question the suspect once he was sane enough to talk.

As expected, however, it looked like today was not going to be that day.  The officers on station outside of Ichijo's room looked especially harassed today, with one having difficulties straightening out his uniform as Adachi approached.

"Sorry, detective," the other officer began once he was close enough.  "This is one of his bad days; keeps rambling about the fog and shadows around his room or something.  We're taking shifts inside his room to make sure he doesn't do something stupid, like throw himself out a window."

"The window isn't what I'm worried about…" Adachi muttered under his breath.  "What do the doctors say about this?"

"That he's making progress… not that any of the rest of us can see it," the rumpled officer grumbled, finally regaining control of his uniform and straightening himself out.  "Some friend of his has been trying to see him, by the way; no family has come by to visit him."

Probably the friend he had seen arguing with him during the school festival; poor kid.  Maybe if he was around the next time he went to check on the situation, he could see what he could do about getting him in there.  If they were actually that good of friends, maybe it would help.

With that task over, it was a quick stop by the coffee stand in the hospital cafeteria, before heading over to the ICU.  As he expected, Dojima was curled up in his chair with a blanket around him, and he was just starting to wake up as he entered.  Adachi handed over one of the coffees he had grabbed, receiving a grateful sounding grunt before Dojima practically shoved it in his face.  His lips threatened to twitch up into a bemused smile, but he managed to hide it behind his own coffee cup.

"How is she?" he asked softly, nodding to where Nanako was resting.  She still looked like she was in pain, but it was not nearly as bad as when they pulled her out of the TV.

"The doctors say she's slowly recovering, but they still don't know what's wrong," Dojima muttered in reply, rubbing at his eyes.  "This fog isn't helping either; so many people are coming in complaining about being sick that it has everyone in this damn hospital pulled sideways."

Adachi frowned at that, still unsettled from the revelation earlier that day.  He had yet to even take his glasses off, though he peered over the edge at that, seeing that it was thick outside of the only window in the room.

"Speaking of…" he replied, adjusting his glasses, before reaching into his jacket and pulling out another pair, offering them to Dojima.  "Teddie finished those for you the other day."

"Thanks," he replied, taking the glasses and looking them over before trying them on.  He glanced over at the window as well, and Adachi could see him freeze up as the fact that he could see outside hit his mind.  "…these are what you all use to see in that world, aren't they?"

"Yeah…" he answered, unable to keep the grim tone from his voice.  Dojima took the glasses back off, just to make sure he was not seeing things, only to watch as the white of the fog choked up the window again.  His gaze flicked over to Adachi, the seriousness of the situation obvious on his face.

"You need to update me on the situation," he began.  "The _whole_ situation, what you've been doing so far and what you know."

Adachi started to reply, only to clamp his mouth shut as Nanako stirred on the bed.

"Not here," he murmured instead, and Dojima nodded faintly in agreement, before crouching closer to Nanako to see how she was feeling.

~.oOOo.~

Adachi felt worn and drained by the time he left the hospital, mostly because of how worried he was about Nanako's condition.  Despite what the doctors seemed to think, she really did not look any better than she had when Dojima went running out of the TV world with her in his arms.  Worry churned in his gut as he tried to puzzle it out; did they take too long to get to her?  Was she just too young to handle the TV world?  Or was it the fog choking the town that was responsible for her condition?

He let out a stressed noise, so preoccupied with his own thoughts that he did not realized Naoto was there at the entrance to the hospital, waiting for him, until she cleared her throat.  Adachi stopped dead at that, staring at her in surprise.

"Detective Adachi," she began, approaching him.  There was an awkward pause, and for a moment she looked away, like she was not sure how to proceed, before she let out a breath, plunging forward, "I require your assistance in a dire situation."

It took a moment for Adachi to process the situation, because it was, in a word, ridiculous.  Naoto?  Was coming to him?  _For help?_ He could feel at least a minute tick by as he stood there, staring in utter bewilderment, before he finally reached back, rubbing at the back of his neck.

"Oh… uh… yeah, sure.  No problem," he finally managed to get out.

Naoto fixed him with an irritated expression, clearly annoyed it took him that long to give her such a simple answer.  As it was, it was pretty obvious that she did not want to be there, or to be asking for help, especially from him; maybe making such a big deal about it was not the smartest thing Adachi could have done.  He forced himself to relax a little, trying to get a smile on his face, only to end up with an awkward twitch of his lip.  Oh man, this was going to go over well.

"Let us go somewhere private," Naoto finally offered, turning to leave the facility.

Adachi followed behind her, curious, though he did not say anything until they arrived at the hill that overlooked the town.  He paused next to the gazebo that rested on that hill, looking out at the town through the fog, before his gaze shifted over to the brush.  Wow, it really did look like someone had gone to town on it; maybe when everything died down a bit, he would focus more on finding that culprit instead of leaving it to someone else.  He glanced back over to Naoto as she sat down, joining her after a moment.

"So, what's wrong?" he asked, sliding onto the picnic table seat across from her.  Naoto glanced at him, before she reached into her coat, pulling two cards, one with writing on it and one completely blank.

"There was a recent break in at the Shirogane manor," she explained.  "Some items were indeed taken, though I am unsure what.  My only clue is this note left behind, and the paper here."

Adachi picked up the card with writing on it first, reading over the note.

> Dear Detective,
> 
> Your precious items are in my hands.  
> Can you recover them?  
> The game is afoot.
> 
> The Phantom Thief

"Phantom Thief?" he read aloud, lowering the card so he could give Naoto an exasperated look.  This could not be actually real… right?  Going by the serious expression on her face, it had to be, but this was like something out of some kind of kids spy movie.

"The childishness of the situation is not lost on me, detective," she replied curtly.  "However, this is not a mystery I believe I can solve on my own, due to the very nature of it.  I believe your unique view on life will be a great asset in this case."

His "unique view on life," hunh?  In other words, she believed he thought like a child.  Thanks, Naoto; by some miracle Adachi managed to keep a neutral expression on his face, but internally he was tempted to remind her who had the Shadow that was curled up crying on the floor when they went to save her.

"I take it that paper is your first clue then, hunh?" he asked, nodding to the blank card.

"Indeed," she replied as he picked that one up next.  "I was able to trace the card stock back to the Shiroku Store, and the shopkeeper there said a man in a black suit with sunglasses purchased them days before the theft occurred."

Adachi frowned to himself; that really did not give them much to go on, and he turned the card over in his hands, hoping there would be some sort of clue left behind that he could see.  It did not help that it was cold out, and the crisp feeling in the air was making him fight against the shivers.  He could practically smell the snow that would be coming soon, like ripe lemons and—

…wait, that was not what snow smelled like!

He frowned to himself, sniffing at the card; the scent was coming from it.  In the next moment he was feeling around in his pockets, hunting for the lighter he always kept on him for Dojima's sake.  His partner was horrible when it came to remembering his lighters, despite the fact that he smoked all the time whenever he was outside.  He had taken to carrying a lighter on him months ago, just so he did not have to hear him complain when he forgot his for the umpteenth time.

Finally locating it, he pulled it out and flicked it on, hovering the flame just under the card.  For a moment, Naoto panicked, looking like she was going to yell at him for burning her evidence.  She was cut short however, as she could clearly see the lemon juice being burned before the card, bringing letters to life on the surface.

"'Eating letters with a red face'…" Adachi read out loud once it looked like the letters had all appeared, snapping the lighter back off.  He lowered the card, raising an eyebrow at the stricken expression on Naoto's face, like she had just been told her puppy died.

"I-Invisible ink?!" she squeaked, incredulous.  "T-to think a grown man would employ such childish…!"

Adachi fought against letting out an amused snort, though it did not keep the smile from appearing on his face.  She caught his expression and cleared her throat, grasping her hat and pulling it low over her eyes as she fought to regain her composure.  Really, he should not tease her – she was obviously very good at what she did, and very mature for her age – but when things like this happened, he could not help but be reminded of how young she really was.

"Anyway," he continued, trying to pretend she had not reacted like that, "it sounds like a mailbox; isn't there one in the shopping district?"

"Ah…?" Naoto began, looking up at him in surprise.  "Y-yes, near Daidara's metalworks."

Adachi stood at that, offering her a hand up.  "So?  What are we waiting for?"

She glanced up at him, before getting up herself, starting down the hill first.  Adachi let out a sigh at that, following just behind her all the way to the shopping district.  If he had known he would be traveling all through the town like this, he would have been sure to bring his heavier coat; his yellow rain slicker was not doing much to help him against the chill in the air.

As soon as they were close to the metalworks, Naoto immediately zeroed in on the red mailbox in question, searching around the face of it before dropping to her knees and feeling underneath.  A triumphant sound escaped from her, and after a moment she pulled out the item in question, only to freeze once she saw it, a strange look coming to her face.  Adachi tried to peer around her to see what could make her stop like that, curious.

"So, what is it?"

Naoto let out a surprised squeak at that, clutching the item to her chest and staring up at Adachi like she forgot he was even there.  He raised an eyebrow at her, wondering what the hell could be so embarrassing that she was acting like that, turning steadily redder as she stood up.  It was a long moment before she finally held her hand out, revealing a small cardboard detective's badge that looked like a little kid had made it with ridiculous amounts of painstaking care.  Adachi tilted his head curiously at that, silently inviting her to explain.

"I-it doesn't have any real function, it's just something I made when I was a child," she finally got out after a moment.  "I… didn't know my grandfather kept it all this time…"

She fell silent, looking down at the badge almost fondly, before turning it over in her hands, revealing another card wedged under the pin on the back.  A faint sound of surprise escaped from her, and she pulled it free as Adachi leaned over to look.

When the banks close, the fruit tree grows.  By the large seven at the third is the spot I chose. 

"How vague…" Naoto muttered.

Vague?  Maybe Naoto was right about him having the right mindset for this; seeing her struggle against the obvious did not make it feel like such an insult anymore.

"Look at the wording," Adachi pointed out.  "If you were referring to numbers, you'd use seven and three, right?  Not seven and third."

It took a moment, but realization soon dawned on Naoto's face.  "Seven and third… the seventh and third words in the previous sentence makes it, 'by the large tree at the bank is the spot I chose'."

She took off as Adachi let out a breath; back to Samegawa.  This goose chase was going to be taking them all over Inaba, hunh?  He smiled faintly as he headed after her, shoving his hands in his pockets.  At least it looked like she was having fun, right?

It did not take long to find the spot in question; there was a very obvious mound of dirt next to the largest tree on the Samegawa river bank, and Adachi ducked down immediately to dig it up, despite Naoto's protests.  He did let her take out the object in question once it was unearthed, however, dusting his hands off as she turned it over, a fond look on her face once again.  It was a watch, too big for a child to really wear properly, though it was pretty clear from the look on her face that was not all it was.

"I modified this when I was a child," she said, pressing a button on the watch.  The light that shot out was easily discernible, even in the hazy daylight.  "The backlight is really strong, and can be used to blind an enemy.  I always enjoyed this sort of thing; tinkering with electronics, building models… when Saki-senpai came to me to fix her headphones, I was overjoyed…"

She trailed off at that, her fingers tightening around the watch as her expression fell.

"…why could I have not been born male?" she asked softly.  "Such hobbies are much more acceptable for a boy.  It would be easier, if…"

She trailed off, and Adachi folded his arms over his chest, leaning against the tree.

"Does it really matter?" he asked after a moment.  She turned her gaze up to him, surprised.  "You're still you, no matter what gender that is.  Male, female; what matters more is what you find acceptable."

She paused, glancing back down toward her feet… only to give a start when she realized something else was in the hole he dug out.  Naoto ducked down, plucking the new clue card from the earth.

"'Jury to not rest, or rout for fable. Minus forty, minus four'," she read aloud.

"Well, subtraction is involved," Adachi began, coming around to peer over her shoulder.  "Question is, subtraction of what?  It's not the fortieth and fourth letter, there's not enough."

"Forty and four… and a coma in a grammatically unusual spot…" Naoto murmured, and Adachi snorted at that.  The whole _sentence_ was unusual, why just the coma?  "Wait!  Minus the letters in 'forty' from the first part, and minus the letters in 'four' in the second."

Adachi patted around his jacket again, pulling out a pen and handing it off to her.  She made quick work of the card, scratching off the letters in question until they had the answer they were looking for.

"'Junes, table'!" she exclaimed, springing to her feet and almost cracking Adachi in the head in the process.  "Let's go, Adachi-san!"

Well, now things were getting a bit exciting, or maybe instead it was just Naoto's enthusiasm being infectious.  Either way, Adachi found himself sprinting after her to Junes, trying not to laugh at the fact that she was holding onto her hat for dear life as she ran.  It was not long before they were in the food court, ducking down to check the tables and probably looking extremely ridiculous – it was fortunate that the fog and the cold had most people staying away from the outdoors.

"Here!" Naoto called from a table she was ducked under, and Adachi hurried over, seeing that she was holding a pen.

"Another of your self-made tools?" he asked curiously, and she nodded in return.

"It is a pen, but also a light and a telescope.  I thought for certain I had lost this…" she murmured, before letting out a sigh.  "I would not have imagined my grandfather kept all this, but I suppose I'm much like him.  Neither of us can stand to throw anything away."

"Not exactly a bad trait in a detective," Adachi teased, not missing the small smile that came to her face at that.  She turned the light on the pen on, looking surprised that it still worked, but Adachi had to take his eyes off her, noticing a faint movement out of the corner of his eye.  Someone in a black business suit and tie had been watching them, and his hand snapped out to tap her on the arm, getting her attention.

"There!  Stop!" she shouted, only to have the man do the opposite, of course.  The two of them shot off immediately after him as he disappeared into the store, keeping as close as they could as the man led the chase out of the building and onto the street.

They ran in pursuit all the way back to the shopping district, only to lose sight of him just after.  Naoto let out a frustrated noise as they walked down the main road, peering into the shops that were still open, hoping that he was just hiding in one of them.

"Let's try the shrine," Adachi offered as they approached the tori gate.  "There are plenty of places to hide in there."

Ascending the steps and walking a small ways brought them to the old shrine where festivals were held every year, though the one that year had been cancelled over concern of the murder case.  It was quiet on the grounds, and it barely looked like anything had been disturbed all year.  Adachi carefully stepped forward, looking around as his hand drifted toward his… very much empty gun holster.  That was right; he was technically off duty, so he could not carry his weapon on him.

He let out a frustrated noise at that, turning to glance toward the fortune box, only to end up jumping back as the man they had been pursuing reveled himself, brandishing a knife.  Naoto shouted, but he could not hear her as instincts kicked in.  His hand came down on the man's extended arm in a chop, quickly disarming him.  He was about to follow through and grab him, but the individual got over his surprise, ducking under him and making a run for it, out of the shrine.

Adachi fumbled as his forward momentum continued, failing to regain his balance and flopping over face first onto the stone walkway.  A groan escaped from him as Naoto crouched down beside him, checking to make sure he was okay.

"I'm fine…" he muttered.  "My nose just broke my fall."

She let out an amused noise at that, reaching over him to pick up the dropped weapon, turning it over in her hands as Adachi pushed himself up, crossing his legs.  It was a moment before she glanced up, holding the knife by the "blade", and now that he was not worried they were about to be attacked, he could see that the "weapon" was really just a toy.

"It's really a radio," she explained.  "Otherwise, it's just a toy."

Naoto let out a sigh, letting her hands drop.

"Why did you do that?" she asked.  "What if it had been a real weapon?  You could have been killed!"

Adachi let out a sheepish noise; was he being scolded here?

"Oh, c'mon; wouldn't you have done the same thing if you were in my shoes?" he asked.

Naoto hesitated, before letting out a faint sigh, leaning back.

"…yes, I suppose I would," she replied after a moment.

It was another moment more before she turned her attention back to the toy knife, turning it over in her hands again and finally taking notice of the card wrapped around the hilt.  She pulled it off, smoothing it out first, before reading off of it.

"'I did what you can't stand to at a place you'd be fond of, but underneath rather than inside'."

"Well, you just told me what you can't stand: throw stuff away," Adachi pointed out, leaning over a bit to peer at the note as well.  "Must be underneath a garbage can somewhere."

Naoto nodded at that, pressing a thoughtful finger to her lips.  "A place I would be fond of…" she murmured to herself.  "It's hard to imagine where that would be.  The precinct, perhaps?"

"Eh… I think it's more personal than that," Adachi replied.  "I mean, look at the stuff we're finding; all things from when you were a kid, right?  So what place were you fond of as a kid?"

"As a child…" she began, frowning, before a nostalgic smile came to her face.  "Oh… I had a tree house.  That was my little headquarters back then…"

She trailed off, eyes widening slowly as Adachi raised an eyebrow at her. 

"The hill!" she exclaimed, springing straight up to her feet, with him already moving before she got all the way back up.  "There is a garbage receptacle there!"

Off she went again, leaving Adachi struggling to keep up.  Seriously, he wish he had half the energy of the teenagers that were on his team – they all made him look and feel old when they just zipped off and around like this.  It did not help that it was one heck of a run to get back to that hill, and by the time Adachi caught back up with Naoto, he was completely winded.  She crouched down by a trash can, pulling it up enough to feel underneath, while Adachi bent over, clutching his knees and gasping for breath back.  She was pulling out a small notebook by the time he straightened himself up, clutching at it with both hands as she stood up herself.

It was a moment before she could look up at him, her expression hard to read.  "This… is the detective's pocketbook.  All the things I'd forgotten about are in here…"

She trailed off, bowing her head slightly.  "My grandfather is so selfish, reminding me of all this… when I'm trying so hard…"

Adachi paused at that, giving her a curious look.  Even with that, it took him a moment to realize she was struggling against tears.

"If… if I solved this case, then everyone would accept me," she continued softly.  "That's what I kept telling myself.  That's what I continued to tell myself, even after everything that happened.  I wanted to be accepted, to be needed, more than anything.  But the original reason I wanted to be a detective… it was because the mystery intrigued me, and I wanted to help people…  I remember that now."

Adachi hesitated, before he reached out, placing a comforting hand on her shoulder.  She let out a faint, almost bitter laugh at that, shaking her head.

"I've been putting this off for weeks, because I didn't feel like it was any of my concern, and I used it today in an effort to try and understand how you can change so much; if it was just for the powers that you've been clearly gaining," she explained.  "In the end, I feel I've learned more about myself than you."

He let out a snort at that, shaking his head; why was he not surprised?  Naoto had been giving him the evil eye over his abilities ever since Sayoko's dollhouse – maybe even before then, so much had happened, he could not be sure.  A moment passed, before he gave her shoulder a squeeze and finally allowed his hand to drop.

"Well, if you want to make us even, I've got a mystery I need help with back in town," he offered, and he was not too surprised to see Naoto's eyes light up in interest.  He turned to leave, though she ended up walking ahead of him as he caught movement out of the corner of his eye.

In the brush, there was that suited man with the sunglasses again, standing with his hands clasped in front of him and a smile on his face.  After a moment, he bowed to Adachi, as if he were saying thank you, before turning and leaving in the opposite direction.  He did not try to follow or warn Naoto; clearly that guy was someone from her estate.  If he thought about it, he would bring it up to her later, but they had more pressing concerns at the moment.

It was not long before the two of them were sitting at the Aiya Diner, with Naoto staring in utter bewilderment at their rainy day special.  Hesitantly, she picked up her chopsticks, moving the egg aside as if to confirm that yes, there was indeed a massive bowl full of meat in front of her.  Her gaze turned toward Adachi then, and he grinned, tapping his own chopsticks together.

"See, I know there's rice somewhere at the bottom of this dish, but I really need to know how long it takes to get down that far," he declared.

Naoto stared for a moment more, before she finally did something he had been waiting for: she laughed.

"It is so hard to tell when you are actually being serious at times," she replied after a moment, poking curiously at the meat, before pinching some between her chopsticks bringing them to her mouth.  At least she seemed satisfied with the taste, even if it was a seemingly endless pile of grease.

They ate together in a comfortable silence, making a good faith effort in trying to conquer the mound of meat.  In the end, neither of them could finish, and they both leaned against the counter as they waited for their to-go boxes, trying not to look like they could roll out of the store.

"…do you know why I thanked you?"

Adachi let out a curious noise, glancing over at her.

"Back then, when you all rescued me," Naoto clarified.  "I thanked you… because you said 'I think I get it' as far as how I felt.  I have no peers of my own, so to hear someone say they understood… meant a lot to me."

He swallowed at that, feeling his heart sink.  "Sorry I turned out to be such a disappointment almost right away."

Naoto shook her head.  "No, I… I understand, after hearing your side of things.  You have made a visible effort to improve yourself as well, so I cannot continue to hold your previous behavior against you."

Their boxes arrived, and they worked on piling the remains of their lunch inside.  Naoto finished before him, glancing over at him, before looking away, fidgeting slightly.  He caught what she was doing, and he let out a curious noise, focusing on trying to find the end of his bowl.

"What's wrong?"

"Nothing, I…" she began, her face turning a healthy shade of red.  "I believe I finally found someone I can look up to and respect in the department.  So… let's continue… t-to do our best… s-senpai."

Adachi nearly dropped the bowl, not sure if he actually heard her right, but before he could get her to repeat that, Naoto was already getting up from her seat, bolting straight out the door.

"H-hey, Naoto-kun!  Hey!  _Don't leave me with the bill!"_

~.oOOo.~

Adachi was so exhausted by the time he made it home, that he almost tripped over the package left at his door.  He let out a surprised noise, stooping down to grab it, only to let out a grunt as it was heavier than it looked.  An insulated package…?  He stared down at it in bewilderment, only to see that the address on the top of the box was _very_ familiar.

A feeling of dread settled over him, and he swallowed loudly.  It was a care package _from his mother._

He brought it inside, only to rest it on the counter so he could stare at it for a long minute.  Of course he knew what was in there, and it made his stomach flop over and cave in on itself at the thought.  He really did not want to throw it out, not after what he saw with the old woman and her son earlier.

"Ugh… c'mon, Adachi.  You're a man.  You can take it," he muttered to himself, pulling out a knife so he could cut open the box.  Sure enough, there was a small Tupperware box tucked inside the insulation.  Dread crept up his spine as he pulled it out, peering under the lid… before pulling it open in utter disbelief.

It was a moment before he could move, letting out a laugh of disbelief and shaking his head as he put the cover back on and ushered it into the fridge for dinner later.

She actually left out the lotus root.


	45. Chapter Thirty-five – In Order to Find the Truth

"Welcome, to the Velvet Room."

There was a grim air in the limo that time, one that had him feeling like every hair on his body was standing on end.  It was just Michael sitting before him this time, and he opened the compendium as he always did, showing off the Arcana he had received since the last time he was there.  Justice, Hierophant, Temperance, and Fortune danced above the book, rotating slowly before them.  Still, Michael appeared grim, and after a moment, he sent the cards back into the book.

"You have made impressive progress.  I'm proud of you," he said, the barest hint of a smile on his face, though it disappeared quickly.  "However, there is one anomaly still…"

A turn of the page, and Strength appeared from the book.  It did not seem to shine as much as the other cards.  In fact it seemed almost… hollow?  He shifted uncomfortably in his seat at that, frowning; it was not like he had not made an effort to try and learn more about Seito, but he was always so closed off that it was near impossible to get through to him.

Michael was silent for a long moment, before he finally turned toward him.

"What happens now is uncertain.  That which you seek is very close, but the fog clouds the way.  Be mindful of the choices you make in the future…"

~.oOOo.~

"'…specialists are raising concerns that the fog may contain harmful substances'," Saki read aloud, her face practically buried in the news paper.  "'More and more citizens are calling for an investigation into the cause of the fog and the facts about it.  Though the local government has begun a preliminary investigation, many believe the cause will be hard to pinpoint'."

"No shit," Kanji remarked as Adachi let out a groan, falling back against his chair in the Junes food court.

The whole store had been frighteningly empty that first December Saturday, and Adachi had even gotten there early, hoping that he would be able to avoid any crowds and get some shopping done before their meeting.  That was pointless, however; he barely ran into anyone that was not an employee, and was left wandering aimlessly until the others arrived.

It was rare when they could meet up and there was no one to bother them, or worry about having their conversations overheard.  It meant he could talk about police issues without worrying about anyone hearing him.

"The department keeps being overwhelmed with these calls," he explained.  "Most of us have taken a promise to investigate and hang up quickly approach, but it's tying up the phones and keeping the _real_ issues from getting through."

He reached up, rubbing at his eyes as Naoto looked faintly amused.  She shuffled a little closer to Saki, peering over at the paper as well.

"Look, there's an article about Ichijou-san here," she began, and Adachi pulled himself up in time to see Yukiko shift uncomfortably on her seat.  "'The adopted son of Inaba's oldest family, many who know Ichijou Kou did not anticipate the murder spree that has occurred over the past year.  In April, the body of Satonaka Chie was discovered, and police are currently investigating a motive for that murder as well as the other murders over the year'."

"So everyone's already ready to hang him out to dry," Kanji muttered.  "We even sure he's the one doing the murdering?"

"It looks that way, considering the note that was left on my desk before Nanako was kidnapped, but…"

Adachi trailed off, frowning.  Ichijou had kept saying he was trying to _save_ her, which was the accomplice's MO, not the murderer's.  The whole situation was confusing and difficult to wrap their heads around.  There were still so many threads hanging loose with nothing connecting them together that it was hard to keep track of them all.

He glanced over to see Naoto had just as much of a confused look on her face as he did.  She returned his gaze, before letting out a faint breath, shaking her head.

"We won't be able to proceed until we can talk with Ichijou-san," she said finally.  "Wild speculation will only confuse us further."

Teddie let out a huff, flopping over onto the table.  "I rather worry about Nana-chan.  Why can't she get better faster?"

"That's another mystery we can't solve right now…" Rise murmured, playing with her still full drink.

Adachi glanced at all of them, before letting out a breath.  This was way too tense of a situation with the way things were; they needed to lighten up a little.

"Hey, it's December, and we're already at Junes," he began.  "Why don't we look for a good gift for her?  Like, uh…"

What did little girls even like these days?  He glanced over to Rise, as if looking for ideas.

"Uh… a Risette doll?"

She looked at him as if he suddenly grew another head.  "Those… aren't for kids."

"What?" he asked… before it dawned on him what she meant.  "N-no!  Not that kind of doll!  I mean, like… a kid's… doll…"

When her expression did not change, Adachi sunk back in his seat in disbelief.

"…they don't _make_ any other kind of dolls…?"

"A-anyway," Saki spoke up before the conversation could get any more awkward.  "Adachi is right; I'm sure a nice present would help cheer Nanako-chan up.  And that should help with her recovery too.  Besides, the store is so empty now, it should be easy to get around and find something."

It did not take their group very long to get into the store proper, looking around at the various toys and cute clothes in their respective sections.  Adachi had no idea what he was looking for, and it did not seem like the others really did either.  Kanji had already wandered off – probably to the arts and crafts – and Teddie had disappeared… somewhere.  He was not too concerned; he worked there after all.

Naoto at least looked like he had an idea of what to look for, as she was hunched over a display marked as "Magical Witch Detective Loveline".  He peered over her shoulder, letting out a curious noise at the toy mirror she was looking at.  She glanced to the side, not realizing he was right behind her, before reaching out curiously and poking a button on the front.

_"It's time to solve the case!"_

She smiled broadly, trying to hide it behind a hand.  Adachi grinned himself, unable to resist.

"That's adorable."

Naoto let out a shriek of surprise, practically jumping out of her hat.  Adachi let out a chuckle as he reached around her, picking up the little toy and turning it over in his hands.  Witch _detective,_ hunh?  Maybe that would be something she would like, considering she had doodled something with Loveline on his cast when he was stuck on the hospital.

"Thanks, Naoto-kun; this is perfect."

She let out a shuddering breath, reaching up to pull her hat down over her eyes, muttering a, "you're welcome," that sounded more like a threat.  He could not help but grin at how embarrassed she was acting, before he looked around, trying to see where Teddie went.  He could not see him anywhere near the toys, but he swore he could see a blonde head of hair off toward the furniture department.  Adachi headed over, with Naoto letting out a curious noise, following behind him.

They caught up with Teddie just as he ducked down by a table, looking underneath it curiously, like there was something underneath.  It took Adachi a moment to realize they were not necessarily tables, but kotatsu, with the heaters underneath drawing the bear's attention.  It was a moment before he peered over the edge of the table he was ducked under, and if he were in his costume, his tail probably would be wagging in excitement.

"Sensei!  This table catches itself on fire!  What's the point of that?"

Adachi let out a snort, covering his mouth.  "It doesn't catch itself on fire, the heater just lets out heat.  If you put a blanket over it, it gets nice and warm."

"Ooohhh…" Teddie murmured, eyes lighting up.  "Buy one!  Your house gets so cold!"

"Ah, no," Adachi replied, eyeing the price tag on the one Teddie was ducked by.  That was way too many zeros for a table with a heating element bolted to it.  "Besides, there's not enough room in my apartment for one of those.  That table I have already takes up too much room."

Naoto raised an eyebrow at that.  "Are you not able to request another living location?" she asked.  "You do have an additional person in your home; the expansion of family should be a reasonable reason to request new lodgings."

Teddie looked like he would start radiating stars at being called part of Adachi's family; even though officially he was using his last name, he still never seemed to get over being considered part of his sensei's family.  It was weird for Adachi to think about – not a bad kind of weird, but just… weird.  He shook his head, reaching over and mussing his hair.

"I'll need to see; right now everything's so tied up with this case that putting in any kind of request is going to get laughed at," Adachi replied.  "Still, it would be nice for Teddie to actually have his own room, and not sleep in my closet.  I need a thicker wall between me and his snoring."

"Boo…" Teddie pouted, puffing out his cheeks.

Adachi's phone went off then, just as Kanji, Saki, Rise, and Yukiko rejoined them, finally settling on a gift for Nanako each.  He excused himself a moment, just as Rise made a grab for Kanji's bag of items he had already paid for while they were separated.

"Hunh?  Yarn?" she asked, just as Kanji snatched it back out of her hands.

"Well, yeah!" he snapped.  "I'm gonna make her a doll so cute, it'll instantly make her feel better!"

A giggle passed through the group, though it was quickly cut off.

"Wait, why?  What's wrong?"

Everyone fell silent, all eyes on Adachi as he stood there frozen in place, holding his phone like it was going to melt his ear off.  He was having trouble remembering what breathing was supposed to be like, wishing he was not really hearing what Sayoko was telling him.

"…h-how long?"

He felt like his chest caved in at the answer, before he murmured an okay and snapped his phone shut, finally looking over to the eyes staring at him in trepidation.  Slowly, he set the gift he had chosen for Nanako on the table, finally meeting their fearful gazes just as Rise's phone started going off.

"We need to get to the hospital.  Nanako's condition just got worse."

~.oOOo.~

Since they were not family members, Adachi and the rest of his team had to wait outside of the ICU as… whatever was going on happened inside.  He hugged his arms to his chest, pacing back and forth and hoping the fear that had been in Sayoko's voice when she called him was unfounded.  The doctors were totally going to come out and tell them it was just a false alarm; that Nanako was going to be okay and back on the way to recovery…  He had to keep telling himself that, because he was not entirely sure if he was ready to deal with the possibility of otherwise.

At least he was holding himself together well enough; the others were not in as good of shape.  Naoto was huddling closer to Kanji, who looked like he was reliving events he did not want to think about.  Saki was staying close to Teddie, who looked torn and empty, completely different from how happy he was before.  Yukiko had been disturbingly silent, huddling close to herself, like she was trying to disappear back into the wall.

Rise, meanwhile, was frantically tapping away at her phone, her face scrunched up in distress.  Though he had called her before, they had not seen Seito in the hospital, and Dojima said he was not there before he himself disappeared into the ICU.  She had been trying to raise him ever since, trying to get him to come to the room before it was too late, but he was not answering.  It was a long moment before she finally gave up, pulling her legs up close and burying her face in her knees.

It was taking ages for something to happen, and Adachi quickly felt his patience starting to wear away to nothing.  When the door to the ICU finally opened, everyone turned, expectant eyes practically pouncing on the doctor as he emerged.  He looked up, a pained expression on his face as he took in each of them… before he turned away, walking down the opposite hallway.

Adachi was not sure how long he stood there in numb shock.  He knew he heard the others reacting to what just happened, with Kanji punching at the wall and Rise breaking out into tears, but he could not react.  He could not even move until Dojima finally emerged from the ICU, a dead look in his eyes.  His partner paused, staring at Adachi for a long moment, but not really seeing him, before he finally moved past him dropping his hand on his shoulder before heading down the hallway.

He could finally move then, planting his hands over his eyes in an effort to not break down in tears right then and there, forcing himself to turn and see where Dojima was heading.  His hands dropped quickly, however, realizing that he was heading in a direction that sent a chill stabbing into his heart.

"Dojima-san…!" Adachi called after him, running to catch up.  It was a moment before he heard the others behind him, and they all caught up just as they arrived at the room in question.  The officers that had been placed on duty were slumped against the wall, looking dazed as they tried to get themselves back up to their feet.

Adachi burst through the door in time to see Dojima standing over Ichijou, who was huddled in a corner by the window with his arms over his head in terror.  The TV in the room had been disturbed, and the sheets from the bed were half on the floor.  Dojima did not turn to face Adachi when he entered, but it was obvious he had heard him, if only because his frame seemed to be more rigid as he stopped just behind his partner.

"He was trying to escape when I entered," Dojima began, his voice a hollow shell of himself.  "I guess being alive wasn't good enough for him.  He needed his freedom too."

"Dojima-san… step away from the suspect…" Adachi cautioned, holding out a hand, trying to be a calming presence in the room.

"Why?" Dojima demanded, still not turning around.  Adachi caught movement behind him, spotting the guards from before starting to recover, even as the others piled in behind him.  He caught the guards attention, motioning for them to go away.  They seemed to get the idea and took off, probably to get help; he did not care, just as long as they were gone.

"You can't do what you're doing, Dojima-san.  You're a detecti—"

 _"I_ can't do that!?" Dojima suddenly roared, turning to face Adachi then.  He was a mess, with barely restrained tears clearly clouding his vision.  Even though he was looking right at him, Adachi had a feeling he was not really seeing him.  "What about him!?  Is he allowed to murder a little girl then!?  _My little girl?!"_

Ichijou moved, trying to put as much distance between himself and Dojima as possible, but Dojima spotted him, whirling around and grabbing him by his hospital gown.  Ichijou let out a terrified shriek as the detective lifted him straight off of the ground, leaving his feet dangling far from the floor.  All the rage and grief Dojima was feeling came bearing down on him at once, and he shoved forward, toward the TV.

Adachi let out a yelp when he realized what his partner was going to do, rushing over and wrapping an arm around one of his, trying to pull him back.

"Dojima-san, no!  Think about what you're doing!"

"I've done plenty of thinking," Dojima snarled, trying to shove Ichijou forward into the TV, even as Adachi struggled to hold him back.

"It… is a logical desire, Adachi-san," Naoto began behind him.  "After all, given the supernatural aspect of the case, even with the body count, it is very likely that he will not be found of any wrong doing, due to his clearly mentally unstable state."

Adachi craned his head around at her, incredulous.  What the hell; she knew better!

"She's right," Yukiko began, her voice sounding hollow, hands clenched at her sides.  "He didn't show mercy to Chie, or any of the others.  Why shouldn't we just throw him in and let the Shadows deal with him?"

"'Cause it's against the law, dammit!" Kanji snapped, and Adachi almost let out a relieved noise; at least he was on his side.

"Who cares?" Saki replied, looking like she was going to kill Ichijou herself if Dojima did not.  "The law can't help us here, and he's done far too much to just let him go!"

"But… should we do what he's done?" Rise asked, sounding like she wanted to just run away from the whole situation.  "Should we murder?"

Adachi was about to say the obvious, that no, they shouldn't, but it seemed something in the room had other ideas.  There was a _snap_ as the clock turned over to midnight… and the television came to life, filled with the usual yellow static.  Instead of nothing appearing, or another victim, Ichijou appeared on the screen.  His face was twisted into a sneer, yellow eyes staring out at them, as if he could actually see them.

"A Shadow…?" Naoto asked, and Adachi stared in bewilderment.  How could the Shadow of someone in the real world be on the TV?

 _"They'll never convict me…"_ the Ichijou on the screen hissed.  _"There's no way they can!  They'll let me go, and I'll just go on killing again and again until I've had my fill…"_

A feeling of dread settled over Adachi as the TV shut off, at a loss for words.  That did not make sense; the TV was not supposed to work like that, at least by the rules they knew so far.  Dojima, clearly, was not in the mood for waiting to figure it out; he was already surging forward, slamming Ichijou's back against the now blank TV.  Adachi let out an alarmed noise, putting all the strength he could into pulling his partner away from what he was planning, but it was like placing a wall of feathers in the way of a rampaging bull: it was excessively ineffective.  There was not much choice; he let go of Dojima, letting the sudden lack of resistance catch him off guard for a brief moment before throwing all the weight he had into a punch to his partner's face.

He heard Rise gasp behind him as Ichijou fell to the ground.  He let out a terrified noise, crawling over to the corner on all fours before huddling into it as much as he could, cramming himself into a small ball.  Dojima, meanwhile, stumbled back, his face already reddening from where Adachi had sucker punched him.  Adachi himself stared after him a moment, before shaking his hand out, already knowing he was going to have bruises there later.

It was a moment before he let out a breath, breaking the unsettling silence that had enveloped the room.

"Just kill him, right?  He's going to die anyway, right?" he asked, echoing the attitude he had had before all of this had started.  "Nanako wouldn't want that, Dojima-san.  She wouldn't want you to become like me.  She wouldn't want her father to be a murderer just because the rest of mankind couldn't help her."

Dojima stared for a long moment, stonefaced… before he pushed past Adachi and the others, leaving the room.  He followed his partner with his eyes, relaxing slightly, before he turned his attention to the others, ushering them out just as a doctor and the officers from before returned.  Adachi paused, updating the officers on the situation as the doctor tended to Ichijou inside, before leading his group away, not stopping until they were in the lobby at that floor.

They found Dojima there, hunched over in a chair with his head bowed low, fingers laced together behind his head.  Adachi approached him as the others hesitated, sitting down beside him.  It was a long moment before he spoke, his voice sounding thick and strained.

"…she's all I had left…"

Adachi reached out, resting a hand on his partner's back.  "…I know."

It was a moment, before the others came over, gathering around the two of them in a silent cluster of support.  Silence hung heavy in the air as they just sat there, supporting each other without saying anything as the overwhelming emotion from before bled off, leaving all of them fairly miserable and helpless.

Footsteps echoed loudly, snapping the silence in half and drawing Adachi's attention first.  He looked up to see Sayoko, but instead of the dread he was expecting to see, there was relief on her face.

"Dojima-san, Nanako-chan, she…!"

Dojima's head snapped up at that, hope creeping into his expression.  He shot up from his seat, rushing out of the lobby as a wave of hope and surprise washed over the rest of them.

"She's… alive?" Adachi asked, afraid to raise his voice above a whisper, least she die again.  Sayoko just smiled and nodded, before turning herself to hurry off after Dojima.

Adachi placed a hand over his eyes, sinking back into his seat as the stress he had been feeling that night snapping all at once and left him feeling boneless.  After a moment, Saki shuffled over, sitting so that she was right next to him.  She paused, glancing at the others, a bit of a regretful look on her face, before she settled a hand on Adachi's shoulder.

"…we almost made a terrible mistake, didn't we?" she asked softly.

Adachi let his hand drop from his face, reaching over and placing it over hers instead, giving it a squeeze.

"Don't feel bad," he murmured.  "Anyone else that hadn't made that choice before would have done the same thing."

She nodded, before turning slightly and leaning against him.

"Where does this leave us?"

Adachi let out a breath.  "Well… we need to confirm that Ichijou is actually our accomplice, not our murderer.  And we need to investigate what happened back there with the TV; that was… weird."

He paused a moment, before looking back at the rest of their group.

"Hey, Teddie, what—?"

It took him a moment, but he realized they were one blonde bear short.  Now that Adachi thought about it, Teddie had not been with them since the doctor emerged from Nanako's room.  He stood up then, looking over the group, as if the bear would be hiding behind any one of them, but no luck.

"Where's Teddie?"

"It… could be that he is still in Nanako's room," Naoto suggested.  "Still, there are other places here he may be.  Let's split up and search the hospital."

Adachi ran a hand over his face; this was high on the list of things he did not need to deal with right now.  Still, he gave a nod, watching as the others split off to look for Teddie, before he slipped his hands in his pockets, staring up at the ceiling.  Fatigue was setting in from the worry and concern and fear and every other rollercoaster emotion he had been enduring that whole night.  He let out a breath, trying to steady himself and pull together the last bit of strength he had to keep going until they found Teddie.

~.oOOo.~

He had arrived as soon as he could – keeping his game going was much more important at the moment, after all, even if it was a last ditch effort at this point.  When he finally did, he was passed out, slumped over on her bed with one large hand clinging to her tiny one.  His eyes narrowed at the scene, bitter rage churning in the emptiness of his soul.  Pitiful… stupid and weak.  This was not how things were supposed to go.  They were not supposed to be able to pull themselves together like this.

"You're too late," he hissed.  "It's too late for you to make up for the emptiness you've left behind…!"

Even he was not sure if he was talking to the man asleep on the bed, or to someone that was not there.

~.oOOo.~

It was hours later before they gathered outside of the hospital, still lacking Teddie and all of them were tired and worn from the emotional overload that evening.  Adachi huddled himself close under his coat, worry churning in his gut and wishing he knew what to do.  He had been sure to check on Dojima before they came outside, making sure he was alright, and still disturbed by the lack of Seito all evening.  Everyone else looked just as exhausted as he was, and he could not force them to continue on, especially with how late it was.

"We'll keep an eye out for Teddie, Adachi-san," Yukiko offered.  "Maybe he's somewhere in town."

"Yeah… I'm not worried," Adachi replied, even though it was obvious he was.  That got concerned looks to pass through the group, and Saki stepped forward after a moment.

"I… I can stop by tomorrow morning," she said.  "I'll make sure you're okay, and we can go and look for Teddie together, right?"

He smiled faintly at that, nodding in appreciation.

"Hey, I can keep looking around for awhile," Kanji offered.

"Indeed, I can look for Teddie as I make my way home," Naoto offered, sparing a small smile for Adachi.  "You should get some rest, senpai; you look like you're going to fall over any second."

"Yeah, Adachi-san," Rise said, giving his arm a squeeze.  "You look exhausted.  Get some sleep."

Adachi let out a soft sigh, shaking his head.  "Guess it was an exhausting night."

They started to split off, going their separate ways, with the others waving goodbye as he stood there, making sure they were all okay as they walked off before going his own way home.  He pulled out his cell phone as he walked, forgetting that he had left the sound off in all the chaos that was the hospital.  Flipping it open now showed that just about everyone had been texting him, from Kashiwagi to Kanji's mother.  Most of the messages consisted of asking if he was all right, that they had heard something bad happened and were worried about him.

Adachi smiled warmly, pressing the phone to his chest as he headed down the street.


	46. Chapter Thirty-six – Your World is as Empty as I am

The Velvet Room was as it always was, with the exception that it seemed empty.  He was about to look and see if a note had been left for him like the last time no one was around, only to realize he really was not alone.  His outline was faint, but it was definitely Teddie sitting there on one of the seats, the stubby legs of his bear costume swinging back and forth despairingly.  He looked up when he realized he had company, eyes widening in surprise.

"Sensei, you're here too?" he asked, hopping off the seat and standing before him.  "I'm not sure what this place is, but it feels familiar… it's weird you would be here too."

Teddie ducked his head down, his ears flopping over sadly.

"You know… sensei… it's all my fault," he murmured.  "I forgot who I was… and Nana-chan… Nana-chan…"

He looked like he was going to dissolve into sobbing, but he pulled himself together enough to keep talking.

"One day in that other world, a Shadow awakened to human emotions," he began.  "But humans and Shadows are different entities, so the Shadow made himself forget what he was.  He wanted to forget… wanted people to like him, and so he ended up looking like this."

He let out a sob at that, shaking his head.  "I'm so stupid… the other me was right.  There was no me to find, because there was no me to begin with.  I've always just been a Shadow.  And now because I couldn't accept that, and try to keep people out of that world… Nana-chan is dead…!"

Teddie broke down into sobs, and he could not help but let out a faint laugh at that.

"Is that why you disappeared?" he asked.  "You idiot.  Nanako is alive."

Teddie froze at that, slowly lifting his head.  "R-really…?"

He smiled gently, trying to reach out to the bear, but even as he tried to touch him, his hand just passed right through him.  Teddie did not seem to notice and if he did, was not bothered by it.  He smiled happily, his ears wiggling on his head in excitement.

"I'm… so happy.  Sensei, I don't know if I should be here, or if I have a right to come back, but… thank you…"

Teddie slowly faded, and he tried to call out to him, to keep him from going away, but in a flash he was gone.  Michael and the Nose were back in their usual places, as if the bear had never been there in the first place.  His attendant was giving him one of his knowing smiles, however, and it helped him relax a bit.  If Michael was smiling like that, maybe Teddie was okay…?

"Welcome, to the Velvet Room," Igor greeted him.  "Well, it seems your journey has taken you quite a distance that no one expected."

There was a pointed look toward Michael at that, but if he noticed the eyes on him behind the nose, he did not acknowledge it.

"The destination of this vehicle is getting harder to determine," his attendant began.  "Continuing to drive blind may make us miss it entirely."

The car suddenly jerked, and he could hear the squeak of brakes as the limo slowly came to a stop.

"We will be parked here for now, until we divine a proper heading," Igor explained.

"Until then, it may be wise to take it slow, and look back on all that has occurred so far," Michael offered.  "Perhaps you will be able to make connections you had not been able to before."

Igor smiled mysteriously at that, folding his hands beneath his nose.  "Well then, until we meet again…"

~.oOOo.~

It felt like only minutes after Adachi's head hit the pillow and he immediately drifted off to sleep that his phone started buzzing angrily with news he did not want to hear: another body found, dangling from a utility pole.  It had been difficult to spot in the fog, considering how small the boy found was, but the department at least had been quick to take the body down and usher it out of sight, before anyone else in the town could find it.

Hours later, Adachi had not bothered with sleep, instead going to Junes as soon as it was open and ordering the biggest coffee he could find.  He was still going over the newest addition to the case file by the time Saki and the others joined him for the morning, expressions grim.  Even if the department had been discreet, it was hard to miss the extra tension in the air; they knew that something was wrong.

Adachi let out a sigh once everyone was gathered, setting the folder he was going over down.

"Nakajima Shu, just turned fourteen in August," he explained.  "Found this morning.  His mother confirmed that he's been missing for the past few days, and she had been worried that he ran away after an incident that lead to his suspension at school.  Last person to see him was apparently his tutor, but she couldn't remember the tutor's name."

Adachi flopped forward at that as Naoto pulled the folder over, running a tired hand over his eyes.  She stared down mournfully at the information before her, Kanji pounding his fist on the table next to her.

"We're so close, though…" Saki began.  "I feel like we're just missing _one_ clue…"

"We need to talk to Kou," Yukiko pointed out.  "That's what we're missing: his side of the story."

She paused a moment, wrapping her arms around her midsection.  "…he came to me before.  He asked how I was dealing with Chie dying.  I… I don't know him that well, but even if he did kill her, I don't think he would be that cruel."

"Ichijou-kun is always hanging out with Seito-kun too," Rise pointed out.  "He never seemed like the kind of person that would do this… he's always too kind."

"Where has Seito-kun been anyway?" Adachi asked, only to get Rise to puff out her cheeks.

"He claimed his part time job kept him from getting to the hospital," she replied.  "What kind of job does that to a person?"

"Not any in this country," Adachi grumbled, wondering once more what was up with that kid.  He needed to sit down and talk with him, but there was no way the case was going to allow for that now.  Maybe once things had settled down he would take him to Souzai Daigoku for beef skewers and make sure he hammered out whatever issues were plaguing the kid.

"Putting aside Seito-kun and his erratic behavior," Naoto began, concern crossing her face.  "What is our plan of action for this morning?  We still have not located Teddie, and we need to speak to Ichijou-san.  In addition, we could stand to speak with everyone in town again about the murders; there may yet be someone that saw something we and the police have missed."

Adachi paused at the mention of Teddie, feeling his heart flip flop in his chest.  He was worried about the idiot bear, but after the dream he had last night… he was fairly certain he would be okay.  Michael would have said something otherwise, instead of giving him a reassuring look.

"Teddie will be okay," he said finally.  "He'll show back up when he's ready to.  Right now, more than anything, we need Ichijou's side of the story.  We need to know what he was thinking."

"Is he gonna be in his right mind enough to talk to us?" Kanji asked, and that got an awkward grunt out of Adachi.

"Ah, well… maybe if we leave Dojima-san out of the discussion?"

It was a quiet, almost dreadful trip to the hospital, and Adachi could not help but feel an itch he could not scratch enough crawling along the back of his neck.  The fog was impossibly worse than it had been since they made it through the last TV dungeon, to the point where they had to wear their glasses around just to see where they were going.  No one was out on the streets except for those that had gone mad, screaming about how the fog was going to bring the end of mankind, and this time there were no officers around to arrest them for disturbing the peace.

Inaba felt like a ghost town, and the voices of the lunatics were like the screaming of those that did not know they were already dead.

It was almost a relief when they got to the hospital, where there were people around, even if they were sick.  They made their way immediately to Ichijou's room, only to be stopped by the lone guard standing duty there.

"Detective Adachi," he began, saluting him.  "I'm sorry, but after the altercation the other day, I cannot allow anyone past here to speak with the suspect."

"You're joking, right?" Adachi demanded, rolling his eyes skyward.  "I'm the lead detective on this case, and we just had another victim this morning.  If our suspect knows anything, I need to get it out of him now, before the situation gets any worse.

The officer faltered at that, turning slightly to speak into the radio on his shoulder.  After a moment, he nodded, turning his focus back to the group.

"I've just confirmed it, so it's okay," he began, before he eyed the rest of the group, all teenagers.  "Ah… Detective Dojima isn't with you?"

"No, and given what happened yesterday, that's probably for the best," Adachi replied, before resting his hand on Naoto's shoulder.  "She'll be my second for now, and these guys will be witnesses."

"Uh…" the officer began, eyeing Naoto as her face turned entirely red.  "I'll… need to verify that…"

"Take your time, somewhere else," Adachi replied, not in the mood to wait for regulations and paperwork.  The officer sputtered as he made his way past him, the others following behind and barely paying attention to his lame efforts at getting them to stop.  To add insult to injury, Kanji slammed the door in his face once they were all inside, locking it for good measure.

Ichijou looked up at them as they entered, and in stark contrast to last night, he seemed perfectly calm… or well, at least as calm as someone being held on suspicion of murder could be.  He at least seemed perfectly lucid as he took each one of them in, before hugging his arms to his midsection, looking like he had just seen how far down humanity could fall and it was about to make him sick.

"…I was wondering when you'd all come," he began.  "I heard Daisuke before, but they wouldn't let him in again."

"So you're feeling better?" Adachi asked.

Kou gave a nod at that.  "Yeah; my mind feels clearer than it has in weeks," he replied, before he paused, a muscle in his face tightening.  "Nanako-chan, she's not hurt, is she?"

A tense shift went through the air.

"She was touch and go for awhile, but it seems she'll recover now," Adachi replied, opting not to mention the brief time she was dead yesterday that spurned Dojima's attack.  Kou deflated slightly at that, looking like a weight had been lifted off his shoulders.

"Oh good… I never meant to hurt her, I never meant for anyone to get hurt," he replied, giving them a desperate, pleading look.  "You have to believe me."

That tension slowly started to bleed out of the room, and Adachi let out a breath himself.

"I think I do," he replied.  "But we need to confirm your side of the story.  Let's start with the obvious: who was the first person you put into the TV?"

He expected Kou to point toward where Yukiko was standing, tense and rigid as a tree as she expected the same.  Instead, his finger shot straight out, pointing directly at Naoto.  She let out a surprised noise, blinking rapidly, before taking a step back in shock as Yukiko deflated.  It did not take long for her relief to turn to dread as the realization set in that she was _supposed to be_ one of the ones that died over the past year.

Adachi looked back and forth between Naoto and Kou, feeling an ice cold lump of unease in his gut, before he forced it out with a breath.

"Why don't you start at the beginning."

Kou gave a nod at that, taking a deep breath to brace himself.

"The rumor was going all over school, you know?  Satonaka-san was actually the one that told me," he began.  "'If you look into a powered off TV at midnight on a rainy night, you will see your soul mate'.  I thought it was crazy at first, but… w-well…"

He turned away after a moment, a mix of embarrassment and regret coming to his face.

"I… really liked… Satonaka-san…" he murmured.  "I… really wanted to know if the two of us had a chance or not.  I thought if I saw her on the Midnight Channel, it would give me enough courage to approach her.  But…"

He hesitated, looking like he was remembering the most grotesque thing he had ever witnessed in his life.

"I saw Satonaka-san all right, but… something was after her… she looked like she was in so much pain…"

Adachi's eyes flicked over to Yukiko, watching her clutching her hands together, her knuckles white in barely restrained rage.  It had to be Satonaka's Shadow that Kou was talking about, that much was clear.

"I tried to reach out for her," Kou continued.  "It looked like she was trying to do that for me, so… but when my hand touched the TV, it disappeared inside and…  I-I panicked, and I nearly broke it, but by the time I got it steady the image was gone.  I thought it was all just a dream, but…"

"Satonaka was found the next day," Adachi replied, getting a nod out of him.

Kou paused a moment, taking a deep breath, before continuing, "I tried again the next rainy night, just to try and tell myself it was just all a coincidental dream, but then I saw Hanamura on the TV, the same way… dying…"

He made a face, hugging his arms closer to himself.  "I needed to tell someone, but I didn't know who.  There was no way the police would believe me, and I couldn't tell my parents.  So I told a friend of mine; he was the one that said if I could put my hand in the TV, then maybe that meant the TV was a safe place."

Kou looked up at Naoto, a pleading look on his face.  "So… when I put you in, and I saw you later, all okay… I-I thought it had worked.  So I kept doing it.  Tatsumi-kun, Risette, a-and Nanako-chan… it wasn't until I was in there myself with Nanako-chan, and those _voices_ whispering in my head… I had no idea that place was that dangerous."

An uncertain look passed between them, noticing that Sayoko was absent from that list.  If that was true, then Kou's involvement in everything… it was bare minimum at best, terrorizing only three of their group in addition to Nanako.  So that meant that the true murderer did _everything_ else?

"Y-you… you believe me, right?" Kou asked softly, drawing Adachi's attention back.  He stared at him for a long moment, before letting out a breath.

"Yeah… yeah, I believe you," he answered softly.  "Your story is the only thing in this case that's made any amount of sense so far."

Kou let out a relieved breath, leaning back on the bed.  For a kid his age, he suddenly looked like an old man then, tired and worn down.  It was a moment before he looked up at Adachi, a bit of hope breaking through the despairing look on his face.

"What happens now?" he asked.

"Well, I won't lie, you'll probably serve some kind of time," Adachi admitted.  "You did aid in terrorizing the whole town for a year, after all, even if it was unintentional.  Given your age and the circumstances, however… I don't think it will be much time, or anywhere severe.  They may just have you committed for awhile."

He nodded solemnly, his expression becoming pleading.  "I have no idea who is actually throwing people in there to kill them.  I wish I did; I'd want a go at him myself.  But you guys… you'll be able to handle it.  I… remember, vaguely, as that _thing_ was in my head… you guys were amazing.  You have to stop them… whoever they are, they _have_ to be stopped."

The officer decided to come into the room then, ushering them out on account that the doctor wanted Kou to get his rest, not that Adachi believed that.  Still, he left the room with the rest of his team, though he paused at the door as the officer came back out, considering.  He turned back then, glancing at Kou just as the officer closed the door, before turning his focus on him.

"Hey, if any one of his friends and family come by?  Let them in; he could stand a familiar face right now."

"I'll need to clear that—"

"You just got clearance; give the kid a break.  He's just as bad off as the victims in this case."

~.oOOo.~

After getting Kou's side of the story, there was only one more thing Adachi wanted to do before he started hitting the pavement: update Dojima on the _entire_ situation, Kou's confession included.  His partner was seated beside Nanako's bed, holding her hand as she slept and stroking it gently as he listened to all he had to say.  When Adachi finally finished speaking was when he let out a breath, leaning back and continuing to rub her hand thoughtfully as he absorbed all that information.

It was awhile before he finally spoke, a heavy frown on his face.

"I feel like we have all the clues we need, but there's just one thing missing that's keeping everything from connecting," Dojima said.  He glanced up at Adachi, a faint smile coming to his face.  "You're still the rookie here; what do you do when you've hit a wall in your current case?"

"Uh… look back over the case history?" Adachi replied, only to get a nod out of his partner.

"Start back from the beginning," he instructed, sounding more like one of Adachi's teachers in school than his partner for a moment.  "You said yourself, you didn't take this seriously at first; there are bound to be plenty of clues that you missed because of this."

"Wait," Saki began, shuffling into her pocket before pulling out her phone.  "The beginning… everything started with us when I came to the station with Yosuke's last message."

She glanced at the others, before going through her saved messages.  It was the first time most of the people there had heard it, and she herself had not listened to it in a long time.  Hearing Yosuke's voice again after so long brought a pained expression to her face, but she managed to hold herself together as she played it.

_"Konishi-senpai, it's me again.  I've got him; I've got the bastard that did that to Satonaka.  He's here right now, a-and… and I don't know what to do.  I'm gonna confront him… I guess.  Look, if this doesn't… end well, I've got the proof in— Shit, I've gotta go; please stay safe, Konishi-senpai."_

Saki stared at her phone as the message ended, and Naoto pressed a thoughtful finger to her chin.

"It sounded like he hid his proof somewhere, before the murderer came to meet him," she began.

"It… yeah, it sounds that way," Adachi agreed sheepishly, remembering he had thought that Hanamura had his proof on him, and it was destroyed at the same time he was pushed into the TV.  Now that he heard it again, that seemed like the stupidest assumption he could have ever come up with.

"Where would he hide something like that, though?" Yukiko asked.

"Junes?  Maybe?" Rise suggested, sounding a bit helpless in her suggestion, seeing as she had never met Hanamura.

"Makes sense; his family owns that branch, right?" Kanji replied.

"It's as good of a place to start as any," Dojima added, nodding slightly.

"Saki and I will go and talk to the store manager, then," Adachi said, already knowing that this probably was not going to be a cheerful visit for the man, seeing as he was the victim's father.  "The rest of you, try and see if there's anyone in the town that remembers anything from the first two murders.  If anyone saw anything suspicious, we need to know about it."

Kanji and Naoto gave a nod at that, though Dojima turned his focus to Rise.

"Kujikawa, Seito was looking for you," he said.  "He said he needed to talk to you."

"Hunh, really?" she asked, before puffing her cheeks.  "Well geeze, why didn't he text and tell me!?  He…!"

She let out a frustrated noise, pausing only to make sure where Seito was, before bolting out the door in a whirling storm of frustrated energy.  Adachi and the others stared after her, before an amused laugh passed between all of them.

~.oOOo.~

Hanamura was staring at them like they had just asked him to relive receiving news of his son's death all over again.  His mouth worked over and over again, before he finally sat down behind his desk, pressing a hand over his eyes.  Adachi hesitated, afraid to try and push the issue, before he held a hand out, quietly asking for a moment.  Saki glanced over at Adachi, a worried look on her face, afraid that they had been asking too much.

Finally, Hanamura leaned forward, folding his hands together.

"My son…" he began, "whenever he was in trouble with his mother, he would always hide his most precious toys in my desk, because he knew I wouldn't try to keep him from sneaking them out and playing with them."

He stood up then, moving aside and motioning them toward his desk.  Adachi and Saki exchanged looks, before he hurried around, tackling one side of the desk while she hurried over to the other.  To Hanamura's credit, he did keep his desk fairly neat, though the mess that was his bottom drawer proved a bit difficult for Adachi.  It was a moment before he was able to reach the bottom, pulling out an old VHS tape.  Hanamura let out a curious noise at that, and Adachi looked up in time to see him tilting his head curiously.

"Did you know this was here?"

Hanamura shook his head.  "No, but… that looks like it might be one of the tapes from our security system."

Adachi froze solid at that, eyes widening slowly, before he looked down at Saki, who was also wearing a similar look of shock.  It could not be that easy… had that kid really left them a security tape showing Satonaka's murder!?

"Do you have a place we can watch this?" Adachi asked, his gaze snapping back up to Hanamura.

It did not take long for them to be ushered to the security room where they could watch the tape, and tension was thick between Adachi and Saki as he slid the tape in.  It took some time to find who they were looking for – apparently the Hanamura kid decided not to rewind it before hiding it.  It felt like forever before they caught sight of Satonaka, alive and well and grabbing for someone off camera.  Or at least trying to; whomever she was trying to convince to look around with her did not seem to be interested.  She was shrugged off, and she gave the person off camera an offended look, before starting to yell at the person.

The person off camera's arms came out, shoving Satonaka toward a television.  She flailed, grabbing for them, and pulling them into view as she fell into the television screen thanks to her hold on them.  They seemed surprise, struggling to pull her hands off of him, before shoving her away.  She clearly screamed as she fell in, her feet disappearing into the screen.  The person stopped and stared in confusion, before reaching out, dipping his hand in the TV.  After a moment, he yanked it out, looking back and forth…

…before turning toward the camera…

Adachi took a step back as Saki's hands went up to her mouth, a strangled gasp escaping from her as he felt his world crumble.  It could not be… he did not want to believe the person he was seeing on the screen was real.  It had to be fake, it had to be… but he knew it was real, and finally seeing it, all the little things were falling into place all at once.

"I need to call—!"

 _"No!"_ Adachi snapped, just as Saki ripped her phone out.  She turned toward him, staring up at him with wide eyes as if he had gone insane.  "You call, he'll be tipped off.  Call the others, we'll meet at the hospital."

He turned his gaze back at the screen, a feeling of dread icing over his chest.  Please… please let him get there before anything happened…

~.oOOo.~

"So that's why…"

Rise held her canned coffee from the hospital vending machine close to her chest, giving her boyfriend a regretful look.  Of course she knew the story of the crash on the outskirts of Inaba, the one that had taken the life of Seito's father and sister.  Even if she had been really young at the time it happened, the efforts to try and combat how bad the fog could get on the roads had lasted for years.  Hearing that Nanako being hurt, being left in this hospital, and how much it reminded him of that time… she felt terrible now for being mad at him.

After a moment, she shuffled over to him, slipping her hand in his.

"Seito-kun… please, talk to me more," she said softly, pulling his hand up to drop a kiss on it.  "Please trust me more; I promise you I'll be able to understand if you just say something.  Okay?"

Seito smiled softly, reaching up and gently running his fingers along her cheek.

"…okay," he murmured softly.  "I… I'm sorry."

Rise let out a happy noise, grateful that she had at least _finally_ made some kind of headway with her boyfriend.  She gave his hand a squeeze, before tugging him a little.

"I have good news; Adachi-san made sure that Ichijou-kun would be allowed to see his friends.  Why don't we go check up on him?"

Seito's smile widened ever so slightly.  "Yes… that sounds like a good idea."

~.oOOo.~

Adachi tried not to look as panicked as he felt when he finally burst back into the hospital with Saki at his side, looking around and instantly spotting the rest of their team.  Saki was still white as a sheet, still having trouble processing what was happening.  The others noticed, and questions looked like they were going to fly, but Adachi held his hand up, stopping them in their tracks.  He could not take the time to explain, not when everything would be explained as soon as they found their new suspect.

He looked around, hoping to spot a familiar face, and thankfully getting lucky for once.  Dojima had come down from the ICU, a cup of noodles in one hand and a canned coffee in the other.  He looked up, spotting Adachi and surprised he was back so soon, especially with the way he was barreling toward him, like his life depended on it.

"Dojima-san, where is your nephew right now?" he demanded, leaving Dojima blinking in surprise.

"Hunh?" he began.  "I saw him in the cafeteria earlier with Kujikawa.  They said they were going to visit Ichijou."  There was another pause, before Dojima gave him a stern look.  "Speaking of, what are you doing saying suspects can see their friends?  His involvement may be minimal at best, but he's still in police—"

Adachi was not in the mood to be lectured; the only reason he stayed as long as he did was because he was having trouble getting over the feeling of dread that had overwhelmed his entire being.  He shoved his way around Dojima, getting his partner to yell after him as he bolted for Kou's room.  It was a moment before he heard the others behind him, his partner muttering under his breath far behind the group as he reached the door – noting that the officer from before was completely absent – and flinging it wide open.

"Adachi-san, stop!"

Adachi stopped dead as soon as he heard Rise's voice, and it took him a moment to process the scene before him.  Kou was gone already, of course – as soon as he heard that Seito was in this room, he expected that.  What he was hoping to avoid was what he walked in on, with him standing before the TV, and arm wrapped around Rise's neck.  She was holding onto his arm, struggling to pull herself free, but it was difficult, given how much taller he was compared to her.  His head was bowed so he did not have to look at them as they entered, but they could still see the faint smile on his face all the same.

The others piled in around Adachi, and he could hear a faint whisper of, "Seito…?" coming from Dojima behind him.  Oh, he expected this was going to break his partner's heart once all things were said and done, but he could not focus on that at the moment.

"Let Rise go, Seito-kun," he ordered, somehow managing to keep his voice down.

Seito lifted his head at that, the faint smile never leaving his face.  Maybe it was the lighting in the room, but instead of looking gentle, the expression almost made him look sinister.  It was his eyes; somehow despite the pleasant expression, his grey eyes made it look like he was sneering at them.

"Let her go?" he asked, his tone light.  "Why?  It's not like a Persona user has anything to fear from that world."  He paused at that, letting out a thoughtful noise.  "Oh… no, you already proved that wasn't true, didn't you, Adachi-san?"

Confusion passed over the others behind him as Saki let out a faint noise beside Adachi, though that quickly changed as realization set in.

"No…" Dojima murmured, and Seito's eyes immediately flicked to him.  That smile never left his face, but there was something like ice in his gaze; hard and unfeeling, unyielding to the shock and horror that was being displayed before him.

"Is it really that surprising, uncle?" he asked softly, that pleasant tone in his voice, like he was talking about the weather.  "Is it surprising to know the person you were searching for all year was hiding under your roof?  It really shouldn't be, considering how blinded you were."

Dojima let out a strangled noise, and Adachi did not need to look back at him to know that he was clenching his hands into fists.  He could not imagine what his partner was feeling right now, what he was going through, but he could not focus on him at the moment.

"Seito, let her go," he ordered again, his hand drifting down toward his gun.  If he had the opportunity, he needed to take a shot… but where?  The way he was holding her, if he fired his gun, Rise could get hurt as well.

Seito's expression darkened then, even though he had yet to drop the smiling act.

"Why do you care?" he hissed, the darkness in his voice making Adachi feel like he was being drawn into an empty pit; it was like he was listening to the sound of the void itself.  "Besides… in the TV, out of the TV; it's not going to matter much soon.

"What are you talking about?" Naoto demanded, and Seito waved a vague hand.

"Don't you see it?" he asked, a look of insane glee coming to his eyes.  "Soon the fog will engulf this town completely, leaving it the same as the TV.  Shadows will come to the real world and destroy everything in their way.  And the fog will spread, out beyond Inaba.  Maybe it will even take over the city… all of Japan…"

Seito bowed his head again, chuckling darkly.  "A world completely shrouded in fog… wouldn't that be beautiful?"

"You're out of your damn mind," Kanji spoke up.  "Like hell we're gonna let that happen."

Seito's eyes finally narrowed at that, and his arm around Rise's neck tightened in annoyance, drawing an alarmed noise from her.

"It's not a matter of _letting,"_ he hissed.  "You don't have a choice.  You can't _stop_ what's coming; no one can."

Rise had apparently had enough of being a helpless hostage listening to Seito talking crazy at that point; she let out a frustrated noise, struggling against him harder, before finally elbowing him as hard as he could in the gut.  He let out a pained sound of surprise at that, letting her go as he stumbled back against the television in the room.  Adachi hurried to her as she fumbled forward, catching her before she could smash her face into the ground.

Unfortunately, it was clear that the opportunity to try and talk Seito down had run out.  After making sure Rise was okay, Adachi looked up to see the teen giving him the most unsettling smile he had ever witnessed in his life.  It was both a challenge to hunt him down and a guarantee that he would fail once he found him, and it sent an unsettled chill down Adachi's spine.

Why did he get the feeling there was more than just an unstable kid behind that smile?

For a moment, Seito's gaze flicked over those gathered, before he leaned back, his head disappearing into the TV as he allowed gravity to pull him into the other world.  Silence hung heavy in the air, before it was broken by a loud thump and the sound of drywall cracking as Dojima very nearly put his fist through the wall.

"How could this happen…?" Rise asked, shaking against Adachi from that close call.  "How could none of us realize…?"

"We've… all interacted with him at some point, beyond just Rise dating him…" Saki murmured.  "At the camp, he was part of the medical crew; he helped me when I hurt my knee."

"Yeah, I was supposed to be in his tent," Kanji added, huffing slightly.  "Him 'n Ichijou were jerks, but they apologized later."

"He offered me his lunch then too," Naoto supplied.

Yukiko crossed her arms over her chest, shuddering.  "…he sat by me, every day.  It was next to where Chie used to sit; she had saved him from one of Morooka's lectures that first day—"

She cut herself off, eyes widening in horror.  "Oh… oh no…" she murmured.  "The first day, that's right!  Chie offered to take him to Junes!  I couldn't go with them, so I only walked part of the way with them.  That must… be where…"

There was another, softer thump as Dojima's head fell forward, hitting the wall with much less force than his fist had.  Hearing all this, seeing what just happened; Adachi could see his partner unraveling, and there was nothing he could do to help him.  It hurt… it hurt just as much to see all of this, and a part of him was a little sick at having some satisfaction in finally knowing why their social link always felt so _empty;_ like Seito just showed, he had been hiding his true face.

He felt something shift inside of him at the realization, but he could not focus on it.  Too much about this whole situation was ridiculous and unbelievable.  _Why_ could he not see it before…?

"He was always all over…" Dojima murmured.  "He was never afraid to take a part time job, or offer help to someone, even from the first few weeks.  Here… at the hospital, at a daycare… last he told me he was tutoring someone… like he was tutoring a friend toward the start of his time here…"

Saki wrapped her arms around herself; no big mystery as to who that "friend" had been, given the timetable.  Adachi reached out, resting a hand on her shoulder, before looking at the rest of their team.  As much as he wanted to give them time to recover, they could not afford to do that.  He was not sure what Seito had been talking about, but it clearly was not good for the rest of the world; they needed to act _now,_ while they could.

"We can beat ourselves up over missing the signs later," he began.  "Right now, we need to get to the department; we need to do what we always do."

It took a moment, but a gradual murmur of agreement went through the group.  Adachi flicked his gaze over to Dojima, still leaning against the wall, still shuddering in his rage and grief.

"Dojima-san, if you rather we leave you behind…"

His partner shook his head almost immediately, though it took him longer to push himself away from the wall, turning toward him.

"No…" he murmured, not sounding very convincing.  "No.  Let's… bring the suspect in."

~.oOOo.~

Teddie had gone into Nanako's room the day before, after everyone left to chase after Dojima, and that was where he awoke to the real world once again.  He stood there by her bedside for a moment, blinking in surprise, not sure why he was back.  His hands came up, his human hands, and he stared, not sure he if he had any right to them.  He was a Shadow, right?  He was not supposed to look like a human…

And yet…

"Teddie-san…?"

Teddie dropped his hands at the frail voice calling his name, kneeling down by Nanako's bedside.  She turned toward him weakly, a small smile working its way slowly onto her face.

"I thought… you were here," she said softly, reaching over for one of his hands.  He wrapped both of his around her tiny hand, giving it a squeeze that made her look so happy as a result.  "I… saw all of you… daddy… and Adachi-san…"

"That's right, Nana-chan," he replied.  "We all came to save you.  Your dad was an awesome knight in shining armor and everything."

Nanako managed a faint giggle at that, but in the next moment her expression fell, turning mournful.

"Seito-kun… he's hurting… he's always in pain…" she murmured, and it was starting to look like saying as much as she did was taking its toll on her; her eyes were starting to droop as she struggled to stay conscious.  "You… and Adachi-san… you'll help him, won't you…?"

"Yeah… yeah, Nana-chan.  We'll help him feel better," Teddie insisted, watching as she let out a relieved sigh, closing her eyes again.  He peered over her, making sure she was just sleeping, before squeezing her hand again, gently resting it by her side again as he stood up.

"…human or Shadow, I'm still me," he murmured softly.  "Sensei… he taught me that.  It just took this long to…"

After a moment, he shook his head, growling softly at himself.  No, he could not just stick around here trying to sort through how he felt.  Sensei and the others were probably already at the police station by now, which… meant there was no way he had enough time to stop by the house and pick up his bear fur.  Dread churned in his stomach at the thought; going to the other world?  Without his fur to keep him safe…?

"Grr… who cares!" he yelled at himself.  "Nana-chan, hang tight!  Teddie's gonna jump in there and save the day with sensei!"

He took off at that, bolting from the room and surprising a nurse that had been about to come into the ICU to check up on Nanako.  There was no way he could waste time now; his sensei, his friends, his world, this world – everything he knew and loved was in danger, and he was not just going to stand around fretting about it now!


	47. Chapter Thirty-seven – The Hollow Forest

Adachi had his arms folded over his chest, trying to resist the urge to pace as Sayoko flitted away at her Persona's screens, frowning and trying desperately to find their suspect.  The stage they always arrived on was awash in a sea of fog, so much so that even their glasses had trouble making it through the choking whiteness.  It seemed that Sayoko was not fairing any better, if the look on her face was any indication.

Kanji was not bothering to hide the fact that he was impatient, pacing back and forth and looking like he was about to bash someone's face in.  The others were all exceptionally quiet; the girls huddled off to the side, and Dojima leaning on one of the railings around the stage, looking down into the abyss.  He had been quiet ever since they left the hospital, not that he could blame him…  _No one_ was taking this well, and Adachi could not believe it himself.  He was still going over how he could have missed this, how he was so caught up on trying to solve the mystery and find the killer, _and he was right under his nose._ Well, above his nose… either way.

He let out a stressed sigh, pinching the bridge of his nose just as there was a glimmer of a noise… and suddenly Teddie was standing by the stack of TVs that was their exit from the world.  He looked exceptionally out of place in his human form, looking around like he half expected not to be able to see through the fog, but that was clearly not the case, as he ended up zeroing in right on them.

"Teddie…!" Adachi found himself exclaiming, how much he missed the stupid bear hitting him all at once on seeing him.  He did not get a chance to comment further, however, as Rise was suddenly launching herself at him, hugging him tight against herself.

"You stupid bear!  Where have you been?!" she exclaimed as Teddie turned red, a bit of a lopsided smile coming to his face.  Of course, that quickly stopped as Rise suddenly let go, hitting him over the head.

"Don't put your hand _there!"_

Adachi let out a snort, shaking his head as Sayoko dismissed her Persona, and everyone crowded around Teddie.  He looked around at each of them, shifting uneasily on his feet and fidgeting with his hands, obviously feeling out of place and trying not to be.  It was kind of cute in a way, and Adachi had to wonder why he had come without his bear suit, but he did not get the chance to ask.

"I… I need to tell you all something," Teddie began, looking down at his feet.  "I… remember now.  I remember everything.  I'm… I'm really a Shadow.  So… if you guys would rather I leave, I-I understand."

There was a pause that hung heavy over the group, before…

"Yeah… and?" Kanji asked.

"No offense, Teddie," Naoto replied, "but I surmised the nature of your existence a long time ago."

Saki shrugged, adding, "It seemed kind of… obvious."

Teddie looked around at them, looking completely aghast.  Obviously he had been thinking hard on what he was supposed to be, only to be caught off guard seeing everyone already knew and accepted it.  After a moment, he flopped forward, his arms dangling toward the ground as he let out the most pathetic whine he could manage.

"Man… I fought so hard to try and remember, and you all had it figured out anyway?!" he exclaimed.  "That's not fair…!"

Adachi pushed his way forward then, reaching out and resting a hand on the bear's shoulder.  He peered up at him as a result, his bright blue eyes really easy to see in the foggy world.

"Welcome back, Teddie."

He grinned brightly at that, and Adachi could almost picture him wagging his tail if he had been in his bear suit.  Teddie popped back upright, pumping his fists.

"Okay!  What do we need to do?"

Sayoko let out a stressed noise at that, rubbing at her forehead.  "We need to find Seito-kun, but…" she began, before folding her arms over her chest, a terse expression on her face.  "The fog is just far too thick!  I can't see anything through it."

Teddie let out a concerned noise at that, looking up at her.  "But if Sayo-chan can't find him…"

"I-I can!" Sayoko tried to protest, letting out another stressed noise.  It was then that Adachi was able to notice that the strain from trying to use Ame-no-Uzume to peer through the fog was wearing on her.  She had been sweating to the point that it was a bit obvious on her pink and white uniform, and her hair looked a bit disheveled and unkempt.  Really it was kind of cute…

"I just…" she continued, letting out a defeated noise.  "This fog is so thick; it's like being in here without glasses.  I can barely see a thing."

Teddie hesitated, looking between her and Adachi.  "Well… I don't know how much help I'll be.  My sniffer sniffed its last sniff a long time ago…"

He turned an uneasy glance around at everyone, before stepping forward, twitching nervously.  It had been months since he had needed to sniff anyone out, so suddenly being put on the spotlight… he glanced back at Adachi again, his nervousness more than obvious.  Adachi gave him a thumbs up, quietly encouraging him to try.  Teddie gave a nod at that, biting his lip, forcing himself to concentrate, his face scrunching up as he tried desperately to get his nose to work.

He was not aware of the sudden burst of power that came out of him, strong enough to make the others step back.  All he knew was that all of a sudden his nose started cooperating more so than it ever had before, and he sniffed anxiously at the air, finally catching a whiff of something… _off._

"There!" he exclaimed, pointing down the path in question.

He took off like a shot, the others rushing to keep pace behind the energetic bear.  It was a moment before the fog started to mold away, revealing a familiar apartment complex, with the red and black sky pulsing overhead.  Saki stopped dead once she recognized where they were, her eyes widening in shock.

"Adachi, this…!"

Adachi slowed to a stop, taking in the building and the barely seen view of the town beyond the walkway.  Of course he recognized it – how could he not, even after everything that happened?  Now that he was looking at it again, however, he realized that the decrepit town below them was not Inaba.  In fact, it did not look like any one town, but a mish-mash of different towns, haphazardly thrown together to the point that none of it made any sense.

Now that he _knew,_ now that he actually had his eyes open, he could understand why it was the way it was.  Still, to have it be this place…

"This was where we ended up when we first arrived here, yeah," Adachi replied, looking down the walkway, to the door at the very end.  He knew where that would lead: to the empty room with only the window that had the spider web crack in it.

Spider webbed, like the glass of a windshield after a car crash.

_"Why is it just me… why am I the only one that has to live on in this empty world… why am I never allowed to move on…?"_

The familiar voice was right on cue, and Adachi let out a breath, pushing his way to the front of the group.  He hesitated only a brief moment at the door, feeling his palms start to sweat and his heart hammer in his chest, before he slapped a hand on the knob, turning and pushing it aside.  The room beyond was exactly how he remembered it to be, with the blank walls and floor and the pervading feeling of _emptiness_ making the whole room feel off center and completely unsettling.  The view of the cracked window was blocked slightly, however, and he could feel a tension like a wire about to snap as the others filed in behind him.

"It took you less time than I thought," Seito commented idly.  He was facing the window, and it was hard to see the expression on his face, not that it would have been much different from his usual.  It was a small wonder how the kid could stay so _calm_ after everything he had done, and everything that was about to happen.

"Seito-kun… we can end this peacefully," Adachi began.  "Just come back with us.  We'll work this out at the station."

Seito let out one of his faint, forced laughs at that, turning around to face them.  Sure enough, he had that perpetually neutral look on his face, but his eyes… Adachi had no idea eyes could be so expressive, but Seito's eyes had a wild look to them, like he was finally waking up for the first time in his life.  It was unsettling, especially as he thought back and realized how often he had completely missed just how much his eyes revealed what he was really thinking and feeling.

He almost wanted to say out loud how unfair of an opponent this was for him.

"Work it out?" he asked in return, this tone as flat and neutral as always.  "Adachi-san, you know what will happen as soon as I set foot in a police station.  My life will end."  He paused, tilting his head.  "Or do you think this world is so hopeless that they could forgive someone that has murdered as many people as I have?"

"So you admit it," Naoto spoke up.  "You are responsible for the deaths of all those that have died because of this world."

"Why deny it?" Seito replied.  "I pushed them in, and they were powerless against themselves, so they died here.  I can skirt around how I'm not responsible for their deaths, but ultimately, I am the one that put them in the situation where they would be killed knowingly, save for Satonaka.  She was an accident."

"So why keep doing it?!" Saki demanded.  "Bad enough you killed someone by accident, but why did you have to keep killing?!"

Seito paused at that, tilting his head thoughtfully.  After a moment, he slid his hands into his pockets, almost appearing casual.

"I admit, I was scared," he answered.  "There was not much to my life to begin with, so when Hanamura called me out at school to go to Junes, I knew what would happen, and I knew I needed to protect myself.  I pushed him in, and I knew there was only one other person that knew I was with Satonaka that day.  So in the following days, I kept tabs on Amagi; not many people notice me, so it was simple to follow her around town until an opening presented itself, and I could shove her in too."

Yukiko let out a stricken noise, looking like she was going to chuck her fan at him.  He did not react much outside of a pleased light in his eyes, like hearing her so annoyed was an utter delight for him.

"With Konishi after that…?  Well, then it was all just _fun."_

_"Fun?!"_

Saki looked like she was going to tear his face off with her teeth, but before Adachi could stop her, Sayoko's hand snapped out, grabbing her arm.

"No, something's wrong," she warned.  "I don't think this is really him."

A faint smile came to Seito's face at that, and his image flickered out, for a moment looking like a bad television reception before it fixed itself.  The glass window behind him suddenly started to crack more and more, lines extending out past the spider web, before the whole glass shattered entirely.  For a moment, it looked like there was a snow field beyond the fake Seito, but closer inspection showed the falling white was actually flower petals, and there were so many they completely blanketed the ground beyond the window.

Seito turned at that, walking down the path that had been revealed like they were not even there.

"Seito-kun!  Wait!"  Adachi shouted, running after him.

As soon as he set foot on the path, it seemed to take the place of the empty room entirely, and he came to a stop in surprise as the others looked around, not expecting it.  They could still see the red and black sky high above, but it was highly muted, nearly completely drowned out by the choking white fog.  Thin, boney trees had them completely surrounded, the ground around them peppered occasionally with ancient haniwa, staring at them with their empty stone faces.  The white, cherry blossom-like petals continued to fall from somewhere above, and it did not take long before they were brushing them off the tops of their heads or their shoulders.

"What is this…?" Yukiko murmured.

Sayoko was already stepping to the side, giving herself enough room to call on her Persona.  Her hands were soon flitting over her screens, scanning over the surrounding area.

"There's… not much here," she finally said after a moment.  "It feels more like a grave than a dungeon."

A faint laugh echoed through the forest, sounding just as empty as the place they were standing in.

 _"A grave, hm?"_ Seito replied, his voice threading through the trees.  _"Wouldn't it be fun to waltz around on those lost?"_

"Seito, enough of this!" Dojima shouted at the open air.  "No more games!"

 _"But isn't this exactly what a game is supposed to be, uncle?"_ Seito replied, a sharp edge coming to his voice.  _"So let's keep playing!"_

It felt like the air itself suddenly _lurched,_ and the shadows at the base of the trees started to shift and stretch, reaching up and out until they formed into hideous creatures unlike any they had seen before.  They were creatures ripped straight out of myth: hulking ogres, wretched old hags hanging from the outstretched branches above, and dripping, grotesque monstrosities that were sloshing toward them faster than should have been possible.  Adachi let out a disgusted noise, taking a step back in surprise just as Kanji shot forward, holding his hand out for her Persona.

_"Rokuten Maoh!"_

His big bruiser of a Persona appeared, its huge flaming sword coming crashing down on the Shadows before them.  Naoto ran up to his side, calling on Sukuna-Hikona to back him up.  The much smaller Persona shot around, his sword cutting through those that managed to avoid Rokuten Maoh's blade.  It was not enough, however, as more rose up from the shadows of the trees, reaching out to try and attack them.

"You all go on ahead!" Kanji shouted, pulling his Persona back to strike out in a horizontal slash that took some trees down with it.  "We'll watch your backs with these creeps!"

"But…!" Adachi tried to protest.

"Senpai," Naoto began, cutting him off.  "Right now, our priority should be seizing the suspect.  We can't be tied down here just to keep all of us together.  We need you to press forward."

She paused then, offering him a small smile.  "Trust us."

For a moment, Adachi could not find the words to reply, and it took him a bit before he could nod, hurrying around the Shadows to get back to the path, the others following just behind him.  The crushing pounds of battle came from behind, but he had to force himself not to look back, otherwise he was afraid he might not have been able to keep pressing forward.

The further down the path they went, the larger the shadows of the trees grew, until they blanketed the entirety of the forest floor.  The empty feeling continued to persist, feeling like a physical thing that was blanketing around them along with the flower petals, and it made Adachi's stomach churn thinking about it.  Was Seito always like this…?

As if hearing his thoughts, Seito's chuckle filled the air around them.

 _"Konishi wasn't enough, you know,"_ he began.  _"Holding life in my hands and sending it off to death… it was such a_ thrill.  _And what made it even better was they kept coming to me.  Ebihara was distraught, annoyed that the person she had a crush on was too caught up in his own grief to notice her."_

There was a thoughtful pause at that as the shadows started to shift and grow again, more Shadows appearing between them and the way forward.

_"Now that I think about it, I don't think Ichijou ever realized she liked him.  So she died un-mourned by the one she tried so hard for.  Oh well."_

With that flippant statement, the Shadows converged on them at once.  Adachi let out an alarmed noise, drawing his sword, but a wall of flames came up between him and the enemies.  Yukiko and Konohana Sakuya stepped forward, graceful embers dancing around them both.

"Adachi-san, go on," she encouraged him, a swipe of her fan and another torrent of flames, and there was another Shadow engulfed and burning.

There was a brief pause, before suddenly Kanzeon's speakers were pummeling some of the Shadows, keeping them back or driving them right into Yukiko's flames.  Rise looked a bit disgruntled as she stepped forward, keeping her microphone in a white knuckle grip.  She glanced over at Adachi, pouting slightly.

"…you be sure to give him an extra kick in the pants for breaking my heart, you hear me?" she demanded, and Adachi could not help but smile faintly, giving her a nod.

Once again he was leaving the sounds of battle behind as he and the remaining members of his party pressed forward.  The forest got steadily darker the further in they went, and Adachi swore the haniwa were turning to watch them as they ran past.  By the time they had come to a stop again, the sky above them was completely blackened, and the flower petals falling felt more like drops of blood.

 _"King Moron was so easy to be rid of,"_ Seito spoke up again.  _"I just needed to keep getting on his 'bad side'.  I did that just by existing, it seemed.  Maybe he realized I was not as upstanding of a student as I pretended to be.  I guess we'll never know now."_

The darkness around them shifted, and there were more Shadows again.  This time, however, it felt more like evil had been given a form; the creatures were hard to see, and instead the only thing that could really be defined about them were their beady yellow eyes in the dark.  One lunged straight for Adachi, though he managed to back up, bringing up his sword and swinging as hard as he could.  A head rolled toward the middle of their group before vanishing into dust.

 _"But then Namatame had to go and kill his mistress, and then_ someone _had to start changing his attitude,"_ Seito continued, his voice a snarl of irritation.  _"It was fortunate that I had the foresight to make myself a good boyfriend for Kujikawa; otherwise it would have been far too difficult for me to keep tabs on all of you after that."_

It was almost a shame that Rise was further back; Adachi would have enjoyed her utter rage at being used like that, if only because he was fairly positive she would completely obliterate anything in front of her as a result.

 _"You had to go and start being_ nice, _and had the nerve to reach out to me,"_ Seito's voice hissed, and it was clear he was talking directly to Adachi. _"What did you know?!  Even you couldn't see it… I had to stop what I was doing, and it was agonizing for me!"_

The Shadows rushed at them all at once, and it could not be any more obvious that Seito was controlling them somehow.  Adachi let out an alarmed noise as what looked like a claw came barreling toward him, raising his arms to protect his face.

_"Kamui!"_

With a shout from Teddie, what looked like two missiles attached to each other – one cartoon-like, complete with a grinning face, and one more realistic – came shooting out of a flurry of blue, rocketing off and impacting against the Shadows above Adachi.  It disappeared into the darkness, taking the Shadows with it before exploding.

"Sensei!  Keep going!  I'll get this!" Teddie exclaimed, running forward, a determined look on his face.

 _"We'll_ get this," Saki corrected, spinning one of her knives in her hands, before looking up at Adachi, a bit of a mischievous smile on her face.  "Go on; show him that the changes you've made over this year weren't in vain."

Adachi returned her smile, even though something was starting to hurt in his chest.  No… this felt like they were all sacrificing themselves for him.  He wanted to beg them not to do this, but at the same time, he understood.  Again he found himself leaving the sounds of battle behind, Sayoko and Dojima following close behind as they dove deeper into the hollow forest.  The world around them steadily became choked in darkness, until the only light they had was coming from the hollow eyes of the haniwa around them, and the sound of less than sane laughter echoed around them as they ran.

 _"Changes,"_ Seito sneered.  _"Your changes were only made out of a desperate bid for power, a need to have an edge over an enemy you couldn't see.  Why else would you go against your very nature?  You and I are not all that different.  If you had been left alone with Nanako before, you would have made every effort to turn her against her worthless father, just like I did!"_

The ground shook violently around them, forcing them to come to a stop.  Something rose from the ground, and in the darkness they could just barely make out the shape of a head covered in a bloody cloth, and an impossibly large trench coat fanning out around the Shadow.  Chains rattled in the darkness, and they could see the gleam of pistols as they were lowered at them, forcing the three of them to scatter as they were fired on.

 _"But instead of finding me, you made me so_ very _desperate,"_ Seito hissed.  _"Sayoko… it was wonderful hearing her scream when I pushed her in… but I hadn't counted on how much attention she had already gathered.  When I saw her Shadow on the TV, I knew you'd be after her.  I scrambled for a substitute; it was lucky that one presented itself to me so easily at my other job."_

Dojima stepped forward then, and it looked like he was just barely containing his rage.  Hearing all of this from someone invited into his home clearly was not settling well with him.  He reached out, calling on his Persona, and Okuninushi was a brilliant beacon of light in the middle of the darkness, illuminating the unsettling Shadow before them.

"Adachi," he began, not bothering to look back at him.  "Get going."

Adachi felt his heart hit his shoes.  "W-what?  But…!"

His protest was cut short as Sayoko called on her Persona, a hand immediately going out to one of the control screens.

"If you continue straight ahead, you will run right into where he is," she instructed.  "He's not that far away."

"B-but—!"

 _"Adachi!"_ Dojima snapped, though he immediately sobered.  Even from where he was standing, Adachi could see the regret on his face.  "…I'm already going to have enough trouble trying to figure out how to tell my sister her son is a murderer.  Don't make me have to face him down too."

Adachi stared for a moment, feeling something thick and heavy settle in his throat.  He muttered an apology, though he was not sure what he was sorrier for at the moment, before skirting around the Shadow and running off as fast as his legs could carry him.

The sounds of battle faded far behind him, and it was not long before he was running in pure darkness – although maybe pure emptiness was a better description.  It was disorienting, and eventually his running became staggered, as he was not entirely sure where the hell the ground was supposed to be.  He just had to keep running forward, like Sayoko said; if he kept running forward, he would get to Seito and he would be able to end this.

He took a step, and suddenly the darkness was gone, replaced with a wide open space.  It looked like he had stepped out onto one of the roads outside of Inaba, though it was covered with the same white flower petals from before, even if they were not falling anymore.  There was a stack of wrecked cars, reaching out to the open, foggy white sky like a twisted tomb.  Adachi glanced around, expecting to be ambushed any second, before he took a hesitant step toward the cars.

Applause suddenly rang through the air, and Adachi looked up to see Seito standing at the top of the stack of cars.  He let his hands drop as soon as he realized he was noticed, hanging at his sides as he gazed down at him, that neutral look of his ever present on his face, even as he narrowed his eyes at him.  It was clear that something was off, however; even from the distance he was at, Adachi could see the blazing yellow gleam in his eyes, like he had turned into a Shadow.

Not good.

"Seito!" he called up to him.  "You need to stop this… whatever this is!"

"Why?" Seito replied.  "I thought you wanted this to be a game?"

"No, not anymore," Adachi replied.  "I'm sorry what happened… I'm sorry you lost your sister, but—"

 _"No!"_ Seito snapped, his expression finally twisting into something that was not neutral.  "You have no right to say you're sorry!  Not when her spirit came to you!"

Something felt _wrong;_ like a poison had just started to fill the air.  Seito reached a hand out, and instead of the usual blue of the soul that came with Persona summoning, a burst of red suddenly surrounded him.  Adachi's eyes widened – he should have expected it, but actually seeing it was still a surprise.  He reached out himself, calling on Izanagi, but not before Seito's hand went to the side of his head, like he was afraid of his skull splitting open.

_"Magatsu Izanagi!"_

It was Izanagi.  It was his Izanagi, and at the same time it was not.  It was like corruption incarnate; a black and red thing that was a mockery of his Persona.  Pulsing red lines shot through the entirety of it like veins, and it even looked like a wild and untamed beast, like it was not going to wait for the opportunity to dive down and rip off Adachi's face.  Just as that thought occurred to him, it _was_ diving toward him, and Izanagi shot between them to intercept the attack.  The force of it pushed them both back, petals kicking up everywhere as Adachi's feet skid along the ground.

Magatsu Izanagi did not seem too bothered by something impeding his attack; instead it lashed out against Izanagi harder, his sword coming down again and again and leaving Adachi's Persona on the defensive.  It pulled away for a moment, and it looked like he could finally let Izanagi get an attack in, but a clawed hand snapped out instead, grabbing his Persona by the head.  Adachi clutched at his own head in pain as Magatsu Izanagi lifted Izanagi up like he was nothing, _slamming_ him to the ground.

Adachi doubled over in pain that only increased as Magatsu Izanagi's bladed boot came down on his Persona, and he swore he could taste blood in his mouth.  An irritated growl escaped from him as he tried to command Izanagi, to get some say in this fight, and he was finally able to get his Persona to raise a hand, blasting Magatsu Izanagi in the face with lightning.

Seito let out a cry of pain above him, clutching at his face.  Next thing Adachi knew the teen was throwing himself off the stack of cars, and he just barely caught the glint of something metal in his hand in time to get his sword up.  He really did not know where the hell he had gotten a sword, but the kid was good – no, it was more they were the same skill level, but Seito was far more athletic than Adachi was.  It was a struggle to keep up with him and how fast he moved, and much like Izanagi had been before, he found himself forced on the defensive.  It did not help that their Personae were still fighting in the background, and with Adachi's attention drawn to two different places, he was quickly out classed.

Magatsu Izanagi suddenly lashed out, its sword ramming straight through Izanagi like the Persona was just paper.  Adachi doubled over in pain, an arm wrapping around his stomach, and of course Seito took advantage of his vulnerability.  The pommel of his blade came crashing down on Adachi's head, making him see even more stars than he was already.  He staggered, trying to stand upright, only to end up with the back of Seito's hand bashed into his face.

Adachi crumpled, his sword falling out of his hands with a loud clang, and he was left staring at the foggy white sky in an utter daze.  He did not realize Seito was getting close to him until he felt him feeling around in under his jacket, but by the time he was able to pull together the energy to shove him off, Seito was already pulling away with his prize:

His gun.

Carefully, Adachi raised his hands, keeping them visible, not that it seemed to matter much.  There was a triumphant look on Seito's face as he ran his hands over the smooth metal of the barrel, not seeming to care if Adachi tried to get up just then.  Of course, he felt why he was not concerned a moment later: Magatsu Izanagi had grabbed his Persona by the head, savagely clawing away at it before throwing him to the ground.  Adachi let out a groan as Seito's corrupted Persona grabbed his again, dragging him over by the tails of his headdress, before tossing him like trash to the ground.

"Do you want to know why I really didn't stop?" Seito asked softly as Adachi fought against the darkness threatening the corners of his vision.  "I may as well have died in that accident.  I hadn't been able to interact with this world since my sister and father's death, but when I held their lives in my hands…"

He trailed off, letting out a faint, relieved breath.

"It was the first time I had been able to live since then," he continued, the barest hints of a smile on his face… before he lowered Adachi's gun on him, a delighted gleam coming to his yellow eyes.

"I wonder… if I kill someone with my own hands, will it make me feel even more _alive?"_

Adachi's eyes widened, and a cold vice of fear clutched at his heart as he watched Seito's finger pull the trigger, and the deafening sound of a gunshot filled the space.


	48. Chapter Thirty-eight – Something not Meant to be

A divine fist came crashing down on the gun wielding Shadow, putting it out of its misery at last, and it was not until then that Dojima allowed himself to take a breath.  This whole Persona thing… he was still having trouble believing it, and that might have been part of the reason he was having issues.  Still, he did the best he could, having been thrown into the situation he was in.

He did not look away until the large Shadow burst into darkness, and then it was to look back to Sayoko to make sure she was still all right.  Her screens were still up, protecting her from any threats, not that there was any at the moment, and just beyond her the others were rushed to catch up.  A relieved breath escaped from him, but at the same time it was full of dread; were any of the rest of them ready for what lay ahead of them?

Just as that foreboding thought entered his head, a gunshot rang out through the trees, making them all stop in their tracks.  Dojima's head whirled around, eyes widening in horror.

_"Adachi!"_

~.oOOo.~

The flower petals underneath him were steadily turning red, soaked in his blood.  Adachi's hands went fumbling weakly for the wound, part of him grateful that it was a clean, through and through shot to his leg.  It may not have been fatal (unless he bled out… he did not want to think about that), but _damn_ was he in ungodly pain.  He could feel his fingers shaking, muscles trembling, and he fought to keep control of himself, least his body go into shock.

It was sheer stubborn force of will that had him pushing himself up, glaring up at Seito as he kept his gun trained on him, a pleased look in his eyes.

"Maybe it will be more fun to torture you before I kill you," Seito remarked idly.

Adachi never in a million years would have thought his own gun would ever be turned against him like this.  He tried to take a step forward, desperately attempting to ignore the fact that his vision was doing funny things.

"You really think that's all there is to being alive, hunh?  You're pathetic."

Seito paused at that, raising a curious eyebrow as he leaned back a little, and Adachi internally let out a breath.  Wow, he did not expect him to actually back off, even if it was just a bit; he expected him to just shoot him.  He had to press his advantage, so he just did what he did best: let his mouth run off without thinking.

"Y-you… you think the world owes you everything just because you lost someone important?  You're nothing but a little brat throwing a tantrum!" he snapped.  "Yes, _I am_ sorry what happened to you; no one deserves to lose someone close to them.  I seriously hate how this world is; where you give and give and suddenly everything is ripped out from under you and you're left in the dust.  Sometimes it's your own fault, sometimes it's because of circumstances beyond your control, and it feels like the world at large just doesn't give a shit!"

Seito's hand wavered, and while his expression remained as it always was, there was conflict storming in his eyes.  Adachi knew he had to have hit a nerve somewhere in there, and the teen was struggling on deciding if he wanted to be angry about it or not.

"But…" he continued, "in the end, we're only responsible for ourselves.  If I learned anything this year, it's that only we can reach out and grasp that bright spot that's there just for us, whether it's in a person or a place.  You said before I changed only as a bid for power; maybe that's true, but in the end I found so much more than just power.  I found a place I belonged, with people that I can actually say I care about and would do anything for."

Adachi's hand snapped out, grabbing the barrel of his gun.  Seito let out a surprised noise at the sudden action, caught off guard and struggling to keep it trained on Adachi.  He forced it to the side, using the motion to help bring him closer to the teen, despite the ungodly rush of pain that shot through his leg in the process.

"But you didn't even try," he continued, staring Seito in the eyes as best he could, given their height difference.  He could see fear creeping into those Shadow eyes now, and he could feel more of a tremor in the gun as he held on.  "You wallowed in your own misery and let the despair eat you alive until there was nothing left but a hollow shell.  You know why all those people you killed kept coming to you?  Do you know why Nanako wanted to reach out to you?  Why me and Rise and all of us did?!  Because we could see the emptiness in you, and were trying to find a way to fill it, but it's _you_ who wouldn't let us do that!"

Seito shook, the blank expression still ever present on his face, but now it was reaching into his eyes too, almost like he had completely retreated within himself in a desperate effort to keep the truth from reaching him.  He finally wrested the gun out of Adachi's grasp, taking a step back as he aimed directly at the detective's head.

"Die…" he hissed.  "Just die already!"

Magatsu Izanagi was still looming over them, a hungry gleam in its yellow eyes as it waited, like it was relishing in the death that was about to come… and forgetting that his opponent was injured, but not out for the count.  A metal clawed hand suddenly snapped out, grabbing the corrupted Persona's arm, and Magatsu Izanagi had barely a second to look back in surprise before lightning shot through it.  Seito let out a grunt of pain, nearly doubling over, and Adachi surged forward just as Izanagi pulled himself to his feet, sword lashing out and striking at Magatsu Izanagi.  The corrupted Persona's blade was knocked away as Adachi smacked his gun out of Seito's hands, and he was following through, slamming his fist into the teen's face as Izanagi followed through with his own attack, his blade easily cleaving through Magatsu Izanagi's neck.

The Persona's head flew through the air, before it and the rest of the body disappeared in a hiss of red and black smoke.  Seito, meanwhile, screamed in agony, clawing at his own neck before crumpling to the ground.  For a moment, Adachi was worried that a blow like that may have actually killed him, but Seito was only struggling for breath as he fought to recover from the shock.  It was a moment before his hands fell to the side, and he was left staring up at the white sky, glowing yellow eyes still looking tarnished and empty, though they were glazing over, tears swimming just on the surface.

"…it's not fair…" he gasped out.  "I just… I just wanted someone… anyone to take my pain away… if the whole world suffered as a result… I didn't… I didn't care… I just wanted to stop hurting."

"Seito…" Adachi murmured.  He hesitated, starting to approach him as best as he was able.  Before he could get close, however, Seito was already standing up, moving much like a rag doll as low, dark giggles escaped from his mouth.  It was unsettling enough to make Adachi take a step back instead, even as the teen raised his head to look at him, a wild look in his eyes.

"It doesn't matter now…" he hissed.  "It's here… it's right here, in this beautiful fog.  Can't you feel it, Adachi-san?"

The fog again; Adachi felt his heart leap up to his throat, mouth posed to ask what he was talking about, when Seito suddenly _changed._ He blinked, and instead of yellow eyes staring at Adachi, the teen's eyes had turned a multitude of colors, looking very much like the lens on a camera.  Darkness started to claw over his body, turning anything it touched pitch black as Seito completely lost control of his limbs, pitching forward limply before he was suddenly grabbed by an invisible force, hoisted up like he was being crucified.

_"All humans… will become Shadows… and I will descend upon the land as a master of the new Order…"_

Adachi felt a chill run down his spine at the voice that was both Seito's and… something else; something far older than he could comprehend.  He continued to back away, his injured leg wobbling precariously, until he heard the sound of footsteps behind him.  He glanced back, relief washing over him as he saw the others looking a little worn, but all still in one piece.  Dojima came right up next to Adachi, about to check if he was okay, but ending up too preoccupied with the black _thing_ that Seito was being engulfed by.  It was right up to his neck now, clawing at his face and hair, but he did not even react.

"What is…?" Dojima began, but the words died before he could finish them.

Adachi glanced up at him, before turning his attention back to the thing that Seito was becoming.  He was not sure "what" was a good question to ask right now.

"Who are you?"

 _"I am Ameno-Sagiri,"_ the thing taking control of Seito's body answered.  _"I am one who rules over the fog and the hollow forest."_

"Ameno-Sagiri?  But that's…" Naoto began behind him, though her protest died fairly quickly.  It was kind of silly to protest the appearance of gods when they had been calling on Personae that were also straight out of Japanese folklore.

Sayoko, meanwhile, was keeping a safe distance back, calling on her Persona and scanning both Seito and the surrounding area.  She let out an alarmed noise after a moment, freezing with a hand hovering over a screen.

"It's similar to what we faced before with Ichijou-kun," she announced.  "Not only that, but…"

She looked up to the sky, and the others glanced back at her, waiting for her to finish her statement, before following her gaze upward.  It was hard to see at first because the fog was so thick, but soon it became obvious: there was a massive black hole in the sky, steadily spreading open wide.  The wider it got, they more they could see that Inaba was beyond, steadily becoming more and more choked with fog as the white that surrounded them slipped out through the hole in reality.

"What the…!?  The hell is that!?" Kanji demanded, he started forward, looking like he was about ready to summon his Persona, but Dojima grabbed him, keeping him back.

 _"Do what you will,"_ Ameno-Sagiri replied, not sounding the least bit bothered by the display, _"but your world's erosion cannot be stopped.  It is inevitable; no matter what world it is, the fog will come.  Mankind will soon become Shadows and live on in the darkness of the fog, oblivious to the Truth.  It is as man wills it, despite the unforeseen circumstances."_

"What unforeseen circumstances?" Yukiko asked.  "Are you talking about us?"

Those telephoto lens eyes – the only part of Seito that had not been completely swallowed in darkness now – shifted over, and Adachi felt like he was suddenly standing under a spotlight.

_"You are not meant to exist at you are."_

Adachi stared, half hoping he was talking about everyone there, but he had a feeling he already knew that was not the case.  He felt a cold fear clenching around his body, could feel the eyes of all his companions on him.  The dread set in a moment later, and he already knew he had a feeling he was not going to like what came next.

"What do you mean?" he asked, his voice shaking.

 _"In this, there are always three: Hope, Despair, and Emptiness.  It is by these virtues that humanity is judged, and that which has the most significant impact is the wish that I fulfill,"_ Ameno-Sagiri explained.  _"Through all the worlds, Mankind has only wished for the Emptiness to come, despite the Hope that glimmered, chasing away the Shadows.  The responsibilities of Hope were never meant for you."_

Adachi felt like the world just stopped entirely; he was not meant to be "Hope"?  Did that mean he was never supposed to be involved in any of this in the first place?

 _"In the end, it matters little,"_ the god continued.  _"Regardless of world, humans will always view things as they see fit.  They wish not for truth, but rather prefer that which they do not desire hidden in the fog.  It was I who bestowed power on those that could brave this world, and you have all done very well since."_

"So the Midnight Channel, this world; that was all your doing?" Saki demanded, moving up to stand by Adachi's side.  She glanced over at him, quietly asking if he was okay, but he could not find it in him to assure her he was, still trying to process what was going on.

 _"Mankind sees only what it wishes to see,"_ Ameno-Sagiri replied.  _"A world filled with desires, viewed through a window from which one sees what one desires.  Humans departed from reality of their own violation, craving more false imagery. They denied themselves the Truth and continued to indulge in the Lies."_

"Only because you encouraged it!" Rise snapped.  "Of course people are going to keep wanting to see their wishes if it's so easily available to them!"

"I concur," Naoto agreed.  "In the end, the ease at which the Midnight Channel could be accessed only encouraged this behavior."

"Besides, that's not a wish held by everyone!" Saki shouted.  "When did any of us wish for that?!  We've been fighting for months just to get to where we're standing now!"

It felt like there was a shift in the air, and Seito's Shadow covered body lifted up higher, wisps of fog dancing around his extended arms.  Adachi did not need Sayoko to say that something was coming; he could feel it, and he shifted his legs, flinching in pain and desperately trying to ignore it.

_"Indeed you have; considering the anomaly amongst you, I did not anticipate you all coming this far.  I must test this, to see if Hope can truly be so easily given away."_

The darkness that engulfed Seito's body suddenly started to expand, and his form was lost as a torrent of raw power suddenly choked the area.  Chunks of debris ripped themselves out of the ground, flinging themselves everywhere and forcing them all to scatter as the ground cracked beneath their feet.  Saki pulled Adachi to safety herself, waiting until they were on stable ground before calling on Kushinada to at least heal the wound in his leg enough so that it stopped bleeding.  She clung to his arm afterwards, as if quietly trying to assure him that he was okay, but Adachi was not so confident about that.  His mind kept drifting back, the words repeating themselves over and over again in his head.

_You are not meant to exist as you are._

Why the hell not?!

The darkness continued to grow and grow, becoming spherical, brilliant lines of rainbow colored light shooting around its form.  The more it grew, the more the land around them continued to rip apart, leaving them all fighting for footing.  Kanji had summoned Rokuten Maoh, and the large Persona was simultaneously punching out flying debris as well as protecting anyone behind him.  Kanji himself had an arm securely wrapped around Naoto, protecting her as she reached a hand out to her Persona, Sukuna-Hikona flitting about the field in an effort to keep the debris from hitting anyone as well.  Rise was doing her best to assist, the speakers from her Persona forming an energy shield that destroyed anything flying toward her on contact, while Sayoko called out warnings from behind the safety of her screens, anything coming close enough to hit her shattering on impact with her Persona.  A divine fist from Okuninushi was enough to keep Dojima safe, and Yukiko was sure to stick close behind him, her own Persona providing support when she could get Konohana Sakuya out long enough to do so.

With the chunks of the ground rising up as they were, it was getting difficult to find safe footing, and on top of it, there was the issue of the god itself.  Ameno-Sagiri had stopped growing around Seito's body, but it was still large enough to feel like they were facing down a small moon.  To make matters worse, long shafts started to jut out of the sphere, and it did not take much to realize those were actually cannons.  Adachi let out a grunt, struggling to remain standing as the ground beneath him threatened to give way entirely, reaching out a hand to call on a Persona.

It was a new card that answered his call, one with what looked like a woman extended out over innumerable adoring faces.  It took him a moment to realize it was what the Link he had with Seito had turned into; now that he understood him, now that he had revealed his true face, so too did their link change, revealing its own true form.

_"Chernobog!"_

He was not surprised to see the specter of death that answered his call, rising out of the ground covered in a black shroud and wielding a jewel encrusted sword.  A blue death's head grinned out from the darkness of its garb as it raised its sword, arrows of death appearing in the sky and raining down on the huge black sphere, some becoming lodged in the multicolor lines of light on Ameno-Sagiri's form.  It barely seemed to faze the god, and after a moment it swiveled around, revealing that part of the sphere that was its body was taken up completely by a massive eyeball with the same telephoto lens for an iris that had taken over Seito's eyes.

None of them had a chance to react as the cannons on Ameno-Sagiri's body changed position.  They all fired at once, engulfing what was left of the ground they were all standing on in a brilliant white light of destruction.

~.oOOo.~

She was still singing.

At least that was one thing that he could expect for certain, and he was reluctant to open his eyes, wishing he could just listen to that song he heard every time he was brought to this place.  He knew it could not last, and sure enough, a faint chuckle reached his ears after a moment.

"Are you just going to stay like that until the end of the world?"

He opened his eyes, giving the owner of that question a _look;_ or at least trying to.  After what he had just been through on top of what he had heard, he could not quite manage to be as frustrated at Michael as he wanted to be.  He seemed to get that, because he did not try to press his buttons any further than he already had.  Instead, he slouched back on his seat, both hands resting on top of the compendium.  It was a moment before he spoke again, his voice soft.

"…I'd assure you that everyone was fine, and that time is not moving in the real world right now, though I have a feeling that won't help you much," he began.  Michael fell silent for a moment, before continuing, "Does it bother you, what Ameno-Sagiri said?"

He could only manage a mute nod.

"And what does it mean for you?"

Silence hung in the air, and the voice from long ago continued to sing her velvet song.  Michael, at least, was not in a rush for an answer, so he took his time, trying to decide what he was feeling, how that all had made him feel, and in the end…

"…nothing."

Michael smiled faintly at that.

"Good," he replied, before opening the Compendium.  The pages flipped themselves about, settling on a two page spread dedicated to all of his companions, his Investigation Team.

His friends.

"The bonds you've made are all real," Michael continued as the pages started to glow with a faint blue light.  "Believe in that, and believe in the strength they all give you, and there will be nothing you can't do."

He paused a moment, before letting out a faint chuckle.

"Maybe you'll even be able to do the things that I could do one day," he added, an almost wistful look coming to his face, before his expression calmed.  A faint smile graced his lips, looking almost as warm as the feelings he got from acquiring a Link.

"Thank you.  You are… the best guest I could have ever hoped for, Adachi-san."

~.oOOo.~

It was probably bad that the first thought that occurred to Adachi when he stirred back into consciousness was that he was throwing himself into the hot springs at the Amagi Inn and not coming back out until it was spring.  He forced acing limbs to move even though they did not want to, blinking his eyes and forcing his lids to open so he could see what was going on.  Despite his best efforts, it took him a moment to realize he was staring up at a sky that was being consumed by red and black, like it was choking the life out of the world.  He pressed his hand against the ground, but it did not feel so much like _ground,_ but just something that was there for convenience.

Adachi let out an alarmed noise at how weird it felt, turning to look down, only to see a swirling darkness as the only thing keeping him up.  Far below him, he could see the town of Inaba… and the only reason he could was because of his glasses.  He did not need to have them off to know that fog was strangling what little life remained out of the town.  If this kept up… would the fog really turn everyone into Shadows?  Would it be like everyone in town just got shoved into the TV?  He could not even imagine the kind of chaos that would cause.

He turned back around, staring up at the source of the problem: the massive, spherical god that thought it could just keep pumping out its fog and get away with it.  Adachi let out a grunt, forcing himself to his feet and glancing around; the others were there on the swirling dark platform as well, though they were still unconscious.  Michael had said they were okay, so he would just believe in that, and hope that whatever happened next would not put them in more danger.

Adachi took a staggering step forward, his body threatening to give up on him, but he stubbornly remained standing.

"Hey!" he shouted up at Ameno-Sagiri.  "Who said I was done with you yet?!"

That was certainly a lot more bravado than what he was feeling at the moment, especially when that eyeball swiveled down to look at him.  Adachi swallowed, feeling his heart trying to escape into his throat again, but he forced it back down, refusing to give in.

 _"To defy me is a senseless act that goes against your world's wishes,"_ the god intoned, no longer sounding like part of it was Seito, and instead like something that crawled up from the deepest pits of Hell.  _"Your mere existence as you are is in complete defiance of the will of mankind."_

"To hell with that!" Adachi snapped, flinging an arm out.  "You think I care what you claim the rest of humanity wants?!  You think you can just tell me that I'm not meant to be the one standing here, and I'm supposed to back off?!"

He flinched, his legs wobbling as he fought to keep himself upright.  Dammit, everything was hurting, and it was a struggle to try and stay conscious, not to mention be up and moving.  On top of that, despite Saki's healing, his leg was still killing him, and he had a feeling if he survived this, he was going to be behind a desk for awhile again.

No, no _if;_ he was going to make it through, and they were all going to go home.  He clutched a hand to his chest, gritting his teeth.

"I'm _me!"_ he shouted.  "I don't care what you say as far as what I was or was not meant to be; the only person that I can be is the one standing here, right now!  I'm the one that reached out!  I'm the one that let people in; that let them shape me just as much as I shaped them!  That's the Truth!"

Ameno-Sagiri did not reply; instead the cannons that peppered its body, spewing fog until now, all swiveled around to focus on him.  Adachi held a hand out like he was calling on a Persona just as the cannons fired, that same white hot light shooting out.  Even as it did so, he knew that the attack would not be able to hurt him, and he stood his ground, managing somehow to stand a little straighter despite the agony it put him in.

The searing hot light faded, and Adachi found a shield of blue before him.  Arcana cards had come to his call, one for each member of his Team, and with their power formed a barrier that protected him from the attack.  They came together then, merging as one to form a new Arcana, one with a heavenly figure sounding a trumpet down to the people below.

_"Persona!"_

He crushed the card in his hand, and a burst of brilliant light suddenly exploded into being behind him, shining so brilliantly it could probably be seen by anyone below that dared to look up.  A mechanical angel came into existence behind Adachi, its body looking more like ancient crusader armor brought to life.  Its wings were blades of metal that shone brilliantly, light splaying everywhere as it extended them, raising a shining holy blade in its hand.

With an unspoken command from Adachi, Metatron launched itself forward, a beacon of light that cut straight through the darkness of Ameno-Sagiri's body.  The god let out a groan of pain, its eye rolling back as it was torn apart from the inside, before Metatron emerged from the other side, holding an unconscious Seito with its free arm.  It hovered a safe distance out of the way as the god started to shake, raising its holy blade.  A destructive force descended on the spherical god, landing on top of it and exploding, engulfing the entire eyeball in the blast.

Ameno-Sagiri entirely broke apart, only the eye remaining as chunks of it fell away.  Whatever it was doing to merge the real world and the TV world together instantly stopped, and everyone and everything on that swirling dark platform was suddenly snapped back into the hollow forest that had been Seito's dungeon – or at least, what was left of it.  The ground was a broken mess, and though the flower petals were already starting to reclaim the ground, the pile of broken cars was noticeably absent.

Metatron came to Adachi's side, still holding onto Seito's unconscious body.  Adachi could feel his legs buckling, could feel his body refusing to support him, but he stubbornly ignored it, forcing himself to look up at the eyeball that remained behind.

 _"I see… despite all odds, your powers have become strong,"_ the god intoned, sounding almost respectful of Adachi.  _"Power comes from the heart…  Indeed, Hope can be freely given."_

The eye slowly started to fade away, and Adachi found himself letting out a relieved breath.

_"Mankind's desires are my desires.  Should humans desire it, I will return…"_

"If I'm Hope?  Then don't wait up!" Adachi called up to the eyeball as it disappeared entirely.

It was tempting to collapse right then and there, but he fought against the urge, turning slightly as he heard Saki stir.  He forced himself the short distance over to her, kneeling down and placing a gentle hand on her arm.  She looked up at him, looking around for a mad god and finding nothing, before her gaze turned back to him, a smile coming to her face.

"You didn't leave any for me?" she asked, accepting his hand as he offered to help her up.  "How could you?"

Adachi let out a tired chuckle as the others started moving as well, struggling their way back to consciousness.  Metatron, meanwhile, rested Seito back on the ground as he started to awaken as well, returning back to Adachi's soul soon after.  Saki looked back and forth between Adachi and Seito, before squeezing the detective's hand.  He nodded absently, not looking at her as he let her hand drop from his.  He shambled his way over to Seito, waiting for him to come awake enough to realize he was standing there.  It did not take long for grey eyes to find him, and there was a long stretch of silence before Seito spoke.

"Kill me."

Adachi did not move, and Seito let out an annoyed noise.

"Well?  That's what you came here to do, isn't it?"

"No," Adachi answered.  "I came here to arrest you, and bring you back to the real world."

Seito snorted, sounding disgusted.  "That's the same thing."

"It… it is, yeah," Adachi consented, letting out a tired noise.  Even though he had been so focused on getting into the TV and stopping Seito, he knew that ultimately, the teen was not going to be living for much longer afterward.  "But… that's how the real world works.  There are consequences for how you chose to react to your life."

Seito stared at him for a long moment, before he let out a faint breath, closing his eyes and letting his head fall back to the side as he slipped back into unconsciousness.

~.oOOo.~

Exhausted did not quite describe how Adachi was feeling at the moment, yet still he managed to hang in there.  It was a long, quiet trek through the TV world to get back to the real world, where police were ready and waiting to place Seito under arrest as he was taken to the hospital.  Adachi had glanced over to Dojima as the officers took the teen away, realizing he must have made sure they would be waiting there when they returned to the real world.  His partner did not meet his gaze, however, and a heavy feeling settled over their group as they made their way out of the police station.

A brilliant blue sky was outside to greet them, and the sun shone down on Inaba brighter than it had in months.  Adachi looked up, feeling the warmth on his face accentuated by the winter cold.  He wanted to smile; they had achieved so much despite all the odds against them… and yet, it felt like just another pyrrhic victory, and he could feel the hollowness in his gut as he tried to tell himself that everything was okay now, when it really did not feel okay.

Finally, he collapsed to his knees in the middle of the street, not caring who saw him or how strange it must have looked for anyone else.  Bad enough that his body could not stand to be up and moving anymore, that he should probably get to the hospital to get the bullet wound treated, but the weight of everything he just heard and everything that happened had just come crushing down on him at once.

It was a moment before he felt a hand on his shoulder, and Saki was kneeling down beside him, pressing herself tight up against his side.  Dojima was at his other side after a moment, pain still clearly etched on his face.  The others filed in where they could fit one by one, and soon they were just a pile of hugs in the middle of the street as onlookers stared.


	49. Interlude

His guest's Compendium rested open on his lap, a faint smile gracing his face as he looked down on the brilliantly glowing pages before him.  Michael flipped through them almost wistfully, knowing that there was another behind him, but not in the mood to acknowledge him yet.  The other person did not seem too thrilled about that, and after a moment of waiting, he leaned heavily on his chair, very nearly knocking him and it over.

"…yes, Gabriel?"

The other attendant smiled, leaning over his shoulder to peer at the Compendium as well.

"You must be proud."

Michael snorted at that, snapping the Compendium closed.

"You and I both know this isn't over yet.  I'll be proud when he makes it to the very end," he replied, before glancing up at him.  "…I would have thought you would be jealous."

The other attendant's expression sobered, though… it was very clear that he was still happy.

"Why?  Everything he just accomplished proved me right.  There was Hope in him… and I can only hope that he'll reach the Truth that I could not."


	50. Chapter Thirty-nine – To be a Family

Just as Adachi predicted, he was stuck on desk duty as soon as he got out of the hospital.  It sucked, and more often than not he wanted to just get up and _walk._ Unfortunately between Sayoko and the others, everyone was making absolutely sure that he did not make his leg injury any worse than what it was.  Of course, being trapped behind a desk meant that the other detectives were sure to be around to be "nice" to him.  This "nice" usually involved congratulating him for bringing in the killer, though he really had no desire to listen to it.

It was during one of these sessions that Dojima came into the room, letting out a bark that had people scrambling back to work.  Adachi slumped back in his chair as his partner came over to his desk, glaring at anyone that dared to think it was a good idea to approach, before somehow managing to sit down angrily.  Adachi was not sure if he should say anything, or if he should just keep his mouth shut.  After a moment, he leaned forward, looking over at him meekly.

"T-thank you, sir."

Dojima's head snapped up to him, a powerful glare on his face.  Adachi let out a squeak, backing up in his chair, only to get his partner to let out a faint sigh.

"…I need a smoke.  You up for standing?"

Adachi nodded quickly, grateful for the chance to get out of the station.  He followed just behind Dojima, having to rely on a cane for awhile to help him get around.  It was annoying, but at least Sayoko made sure he got a cool looking one when he was in the hospital.

Once outside, Dojima let out a long suffering sigh, and it was a moment before he pulled out a cigarette from the pack in his pocket.  As expected, he started patting around afterward, probably looking for a lighter that he did not have.  Without even thinking, Adachi reached into his pocket, taking the lighter he always kept on him and handing it over.  Dojima took a long drag from his cigarette once it was lit, letting the smoke billow out around him.  They stood there in silence for a long moment, with the smoke from his cigarette dancing in the cold air.

"…I just finished talking to my sister," he finally began, and Adachi pursed his lips together, knowing what was coming.  "As of now, I'm off the case.  The rest of this is too personal for me to continue, though it doesn't seem like there's much.  He's… been transferred already.  They're not allowing anyone from Inaba to speak with him anyway."

Adachi did not respond for a long moment.

"…did we do the right thing?"

Dojima paused, giving him a measured glance.  There was a pause, before he finally deflated, looking as tired and worn as he felt.

"Technically, we did," he replied softly.  "It… doesn't feel like we did."

Adachi glanced up at him, feeling himself deflate, leaning heavily against his cane.

"…sorry, I'm feeling miserable, and you've got it worse than I do," he replied, shaking his head.  "Didn't mean to be selfish."

There was a pause, and suddenly Dojima's hand fell on his head.  He let out a dog-like whine, almost out of instinct, if only because his partner touching him like that kept reminding him of someone petting a dog.

"No, you've got every right to be miserable," he finally replied.  "You tried to reach out to him, we all did.  But… I don't think there was ever a way for either of us to get through."

Adachi let out a breath, sinking back and leaning heavily on his cane.  So in the end, there was never any Hope for him?  If that was the case, then why did that Ameno-Sagiri thing insist that he was the Hope of this world, if he could not even bring hope to one person?

~.oOOo.~

Saki was flopped over the counter in the food court, staring at her breath as puffs of it escaped out into the cold air.  Of course she was nice and warm next to the stove, so the cold coming in from outside was not bothering her at all.  It was the fact that she just could not focus, her mind continuously drifting back to the battle, and how empty their victory felt.  They found the murderer, she was supposed to be happy, but… it just did not feel _real._

She thumped her forehead against the counter as she heard Teddie bouncing up, swinging his arms back and forth happily.  At least someone from their group could be enthusiastic still.

"Saki-chan~!" he began in a sing-song voice, his big bear head poking into the booth.  "My shift just finished~!  Are you done too?"

Saki let out a faint noise, lifting her head and glancing at the clock, realizing her shift ended minutes ago.

"Oh… yeah…" she murmured, getting a concerned look from the bear.  His ears flopped over on top of his head, before they perked right back up and he reached in, trying to grab her hand and drag her out over the counter.

"C'mon!  I wanna go somewhere!"

Saki let out a sound of protest, managing to free herself before Teddie succeeded in pulling her through the window.  She got her things as Teddie shot off so he could leave his costume in his locker.  They met up again at the entrance, and Teddie took her hand as he practically bounced his way out into town.  Saki allowed him to drag her all the way to the outskirts, to where the hill that overlooked the town was, and it was not until then that he finally let go of her hand, flinging his arms out like he accomplished something.

"Ta da!  Look!"

Saki stared a moment, expecting something new, but…

"Teddie, I grew up here; do you know how often I've seen this view?" she asked.

Teddie deflated at that, arms hanging loosely as he pouted up at her.  "But this is only the second time I've been here.  It's really pretty, isn't it?"

Saki looked back out at the town below; pretty?  It was hard to imagine the town as "pretty," considering what she saw every day.  Though now that the fog was gone, it was a really clear view…

"…I suppose it is pretty."

Teddie looked really pleased at that, rocking back and forth on his feet.

"You know, Saki-chan… I wanna protect this world.  I'm _going_ to protect this world," he began.  "This world where sensei and you and all our friends are; I never want to leave it.  But at the same time, I need to protect the other world too, so…"

He paused, offering her a bright smile.  "I'm going to stay in this pretty place, so I can keep watch over both worlds, and make sure no one gets the crazy idea to pump this place full of fog again!"

Saki stared a moment, before she let out a sigh, reaching over and patting him on the head.  She was jealous, in a way; she wished she could keep up that much enthusiasm.  She knew, given time, she could probably go back to her usual, but it was not going to be soon.  At least, one thing that Teddie said she could agree with.

"I guess we have a similar desire, then," she said after a moment.  "I want to protect this place too… this place where Yosuke and my brother lived, where they might have stayed… it's the least I could do."

~.oOOo.~

Knitting was helping, despite everything that happened, not that he was surprised by this.  With knitting, Kanji could just focus on count and gauge, and making sure his stitches turned into something completely and utterly adorable that Nanako-chan would love.  This way, he did not have to focus on how pissed off he was that someone he knew was a lying murderer, or that everyone was bummed after the fact.  If knitting like this could calm him down and make someone smile, then it was worth it, right?

He was so intensely focused that he did not even realize he had a guest until their hands came slamming down on his table.

_"KANJI!"_

Kanji came close to leaping clear out of his skin, nearly stabbing himself with one of his knitting needles in the process.  He clutched his creation close to his chest, staring at the owner of the screaming and the slamming hands with wide eyes.

"R-Rise, what the hell?!"

Rise looked extraordinarily pleased with herself as she plopped down on the other side of the table, despite the death glare being aimed in her direction.  She was resting her elbows on the table a moment later, not at all bothered by the looks being aimed at her.

"So, you know I'm going to make my comeback this spring, right?" she asked.

"Uh… yeah, you said that."

Her hands idly reached out, absently playing with some left over yarn on the table, despite the fact that Kanji looked like he was going to burst a vein at the action.

"Well! I want my friends to be involved too," she replied.  "I'm not alone anymore on that big stage, so I want everyone to know this is me and this is the person I want to be."

She let the string drop, flopping her arms on the table.

"So!  I want you to help design my comeback outfit!"

It took a moment for Kanji to process what she said.  "Wha…?"

She held up a finger before he could get very far.  "Of course, my manager and the agency will have the last say on what it'll look like, but I know with you behind the design, you'll make it extra cute."

"Hell yeah it'll be cute!" Kanji replied, before he fell silent a moment, giving her a concerned look.  "But, uh… you sure it's a good idea?  I mean… it's been in the papers that…"

He paused, glancing over at that morning's paper, left abandoned and ignored at the far end of the table.  Rise's face was a careful mask as she reached over for it, her eyes scanning over the article about Seito's arrest right there on the front of the paper… before her hands came mashing down on it, crumpling it into a little ball and tossing it behind her.  Kanji let out a faint squeak at the violence, clutching his knitting even tighter against his chest, as if it were supposed to defend him.

 _Damn_ she could be scary!

"I can't just sit back and do nothing!" Rise snapped, slapping both hands against the table, before her fingers curled, and it was obvious she was trying not to cry.  "…he broke my heart, not to mention all the other terrible things he did.  It's just going to tear me apart if I don't get these feelings out the only way I know how."

~.oOOo.~

Sayoko stared at her patient schedule, frustration bubbling inside of her without a way for her to release it.  She did not want to be working, even though working meant she could focus on something other than her own doubts and fears, and how useless she had been during the fight.  What good was having the power to scan an area or a creature and not be able to do anything about it?  When that creature appeared… her readings had gone completely off the charts.  She saw the face of doom and destruction as numbers and blast radii, and there was nothing she could have done to stop it or prevent it.

It was _frustrating._

"Oh, Sayoko-san?"

Sayoko turned at the familiar voice, a faint smile working its way onto her face when she saw Yukiko standing behind her.  She must have been in the middle of work at her family's inn, or at least just gotten off, because she was still wearing that adorable pink kimono of hers.  It was not fair that she looked so cute in it…

"Ah, Amagi-san," she began.  "What brings you here today?"

Yukiko lifted a bag she was holding, showing off a cute floral pattern on it.

"I wanted to give Nanako-chan a get well charm from the shrine," she explained.  "Will I be able to see her?"

Sayoko gave a nod at that, starting to move away from the schedule board and down the hall.  Yukiko fell in step beside her, giving her a curious look.

"Nanako-chan has been moved from ICU to one of the recovery wards," she explained.  "She keeps getting better and better since the fog lifted.  I'm starting to suspect it had something to do with her condition, though I could never say as much to the doctors here."

"I'm relieved to hear that," Yukiko replied.  "After everything that happened, I…"

She trailed off, unable to finish what she wanted to say, and instead looking down at her hands clasped tightly around the handle of the bag.  Sayoko looked over to her, at once concerned and understanding of how she must be feeling, but she did not say anything.  Instead she waited, letting Yukiko regain her composure first.

"…I don't feel like we accomplished anything," she finally said softly.  "We've caught the person who killed Chie, and yet I don't feel at ease.  Everything was supposed to be better, so why…?"

Sayoko let out a breath, glancing away.  This was exactly how she felt, how all of them felt: it did not feel like they won.

"It's… hard, when the person you're looking for is the one right next to you," she finally replied.  "I don't think any of us will recover easily from this, even those not directly involved with him."

Yukiko nodded faintly, biting her lip.

"We all need something, I think…" she began, an idea clearly churning in her head.  "Nanako-chan will be released soon, right?  In time for Christmas?"

Sayoko caught onto her thought immediately, a pleased smile coming to her face.  "Hm, hm… a party welcoming her home and celebrating Christmas would be wonderful, I think.  I'll inform Dojima-san as soon as I'm on break."

Yukiko gave a nod at that.  "And I'll get the girls together so we can plan what to cook for everyone."

It had been a few months since Mystery Concoction X happened… there was no way she could mess up that badly again.

Right?

~.oOOo.~

It was when he was pulled out of the television for a second time that Kou decided this was the worst year of his life.

He felt sick and miserable, having been found in a broken, mangled mess when Adachi and the others located him again.  After hearing and experiencing his best friend's betrayal, he almost wished they had left him to die.  It was all his fault; only he was responsible for believing Seito, someone he had just met and did not think to question.  Why would he?  Why should he?  He seemed like such a nice guy, and was practically a perfectly shining star on the basketball court.

Kou let out a miserable sigh, burying his face in his hands.  At least he was recovering quickly now that the fog was gone, and they had been allowing visits – supervised this time – from his friends and his grandmother, but he still felt like he completely failed as a human being.

The door opened suddenly, and he looked up in surprise to see an officer walk in, followed by the last person he would have expected.  The officer went to sit in his usual chair, while Yukiko pulled up a stool to sit by his bed.

"Hello, Ichijou-kun," she greeted him, a careful edge in her voice, but he could hear a bit of warmth underneath.  Kou leaned back in his bed, keeping his eyes on her and not sure how to respond.

"Hey," he finally said, feeling like that was not nearly enough.  An awkward look came to his face, but she smiled anyway.  An unsettled sort of silence fell between them, and Kou felt like he should be saying _something,_ but nothing was coming to mind.

"You…" Yukiko began, making him jump slightly.  "You really cared about Chie too… didn't you?"

Kou blinked in surprise, before leaning back heavily against the pillows of his hospital bed, a small, pained smile coming to his face.

"Yeah… I did too."

~.oOOo.~

Adachi felt like he had been run over by a bus by the time the day ended, and he swore his arms were dragging on the ground as he left the precinct.  The thought of going home and collapsing into bed sounded like heaven at the moment, though actually achieving that was blocked off.  Naoto was waiting for him outside the station as he got off, and he found himself letting out a surprised noise at her presence, leaning against his little cane as she immediately zeroed in on him.

"Senpai, how are you fairing?" she asked.

"Same as always," he replied, trying to at least pretend he was still capable of an upbeat attitude, never mind that it was obvious she immediately saw right through it.  Did he not get points for trying anymore?  "Well, sort of same as always?  Eh heh…"

Naoto let out a sigh at that, shaking her head.

"…do you mind if we talk?" she asked, eyeing his leg, before adding, "Or, I should ask, would you mind going for a walk?"

Adachi rolled his eyes skyward.  "Naoto-kun, I'm not crippled.  I can walk."

Naoto let out an embarrassed noise.  "Forgive me, I did not mean to imply such.  A bullet wound is not something to take lightly."

"You'd think otherwise," he grumbled, jerking an annoyed thumb back toward the precinct.  "One of those idiots actually said I popped my rookie cherry now that I've been shot."

He rolled his eyes, feeling like an ass just for bringing it up.  Naoto clearly fought against a smile, shaking her head in amusement, before starting down the steps and onto the sidewalk, Adachi following just behind her.  They were silent for a moment, lost in the slowly renewing hustle and bustle of the town as they directed themselves toward the shopping district.  It was not until they passed by the gas station that she spoke up, sounding faintly pleased with what she was about to say.

"I wanted to thank you… and apologize as well."

Adachi let out a curious noise, glancing down at her as she smiled, bowing her head.

"I don't believe I ever gave you a fair chance," Naoto continued.  "Even though you were harsh and uncaring, I did not make an effort to understand why.  And even as you began to change, I brought you under unfair scrutiny.  For all of that… I'm sorry."

Adachi was silent, not sure how to respond.

"As far as thanking you," she pressed on, not bothered by his uncertainty, "I've… learned a great deal from you.  I've learned that we are all capable of growing and changing, no matter who or what we are.  I believe, through accepting you and the man you've become, I think I can accept myself as well."

They stopped then, just outside of the bookstore, and Naoto turned toward Adachi.  There was a serious, earnest expression on her face, and he could tell that it took a long time for her to come to this point.  It took her a moment to find the right words to continue, and he waited patiently for her, knowing that whatever was said next had to be important to her.

"From that very first moment when you knew, you accepted who I was over what I was," she finally said, having trouble looking up at him directly.  "I… think outside of family, you were the first to ever do so, and… I needed that.  I needed someone, anyone, to do that for me, more than I ever realized."

She finally looked up to him then, that faint smile back on her face, and Adachi could feel the silent courage that lingered behind it.

"I am a woman, and I am a detective," she declared.  "I understand now that I do not need to sacrifice one to be the other."

The smile that worked its way onto Adachi's face felt like the first real smile he had managed since Seito's arrest.  He reached out to her, offering her his hand.

"Well, hopefully we'll get to work together more often then, because it's been a pleasure, Detective Shirogane," he replied, and even though she ducked her head away before accepting his handshake, he could tell she was near gushing with happiness.

They started off again, Adachi leaning a little heavily on his cane.  She eyed how he was walking, and his injured leg, wary that they may need to turn around sooner rather than later, but she did not bring it up yet.  Instead, Naoto let out a soft breath, making it clear that there was more that she wanted to say.

"I also wanted to let you know, that unless I am hired out elsewhere, I will be staying in Inaba… and offering you my support as well," she continued, and he glanced down at her, raising an eyebrow, wondering what she could mean by that.  "I… understand why the conclusion of the case is bothering you as much as it is."

He looked away, finding himself stopping short.  Naoto paused herself, turning so that she could look up at him, even if Adachi would not meet her gaze.

"…you could have been him."

Adachi flinched, and Naoto let out a faint sigh.

"In truth, any one of us could have been Seito-kun, given the right circumstances and choices," she continued.  "But I think of all of us, you understood his 'Emptiness' the most."

He gave a faint nod at that, a tight feeling in his throat.  It had been bothering him, how little joy Seito had despite how much everyone had been trying to give him.  How he did not care what happened to the world, so long as he could feel better.  How often did he have those same thoughts, just in the few months after his arrival in Inaba?  Not only that, but Ameno-Sagiri's words still rung in his head, about how he was not meant to be "Hope", like some wires had gotten crossed and Seito had taken the role he was supposed to have.

Like he was supposed to be a murderer.

Adachi ended up so lost in his own thoughts that he did not realize he was standing there with a blank look on his face until he felt a hand over his.  He snapped out of it then, glancing down at Naoto as she awkwardly closed her fingers around his hand, obviously not used to trying to comfort someone.

"You're not alone," she reminded him.  "You're not 'Empty'."

It hurt, and it took him a moment, but a faint smile finally came to his face again.

"Yeah… I know."

~.oOOo.~

A loud pop and a rain of streamers was there to greet Nanako as she walked back into her home for the first time in almost two months.  Her eyes lit up in awe, taking in the red, green, and white garland that hung from the ceiling, and the cute little Santa Clause knit dolls that dotted the house.  A small tree had been tucked in next to the television, though she could just barely see it, as Adachi and all of his friends were crowding around in front of it, holding onto the poppers they had just let go.

_"Merry Christmas and welcome home, Nanako-chan!"_

She looked like she was close to tears in her happiness, barely remembering to take off her shoes before darting forward and throwing her arms around Adachi's waist in an excited hug.  Dojima let out an amused chuckle behind her, hanging up his coat before going over to join them.

A sushi spread from Junes was their Christmas feast, and small talk went all around as they all squeezed themselves around the living room kotatsu, enjoying the sushi and each other's company.  Nanako was sure to sit by Adachi, talking excitedly about her last few days in the hospital, and how all the nurses had come together to congratulate her on her recovery before her dad picked her up.  Sayoko, meanwhile, was sure to sit on his other side, leaning against him as if to make sure he knew of her presence, though not so much to take his attention away.  Saki was talking to Dojima, letting her know that her father had donated some liquor for the adults to enjoy after they all left, while Naoto was complimenting Kanji on the adorable knit Santas, with him steadily turning redder and redder with each word.  Rise and Yukiko were mostly fighting with Teddie, trying to keep him from eating all the sushi, often times outright stabbing him with their chopsticks to get him to stop.

It was not long before plates were cleared, and the empty sushi platter was replaced by a gorgeous cake with white icing and decorated with strawberries.  The guys were more than happy to dig in first, with Dojima cutting Nanako a slice before taking his own helping.  Yukiko smiled happily at their enthusiasm, clasping her hands together in her lap.

"We hope you like it," she said, "we worked really hard on it."

Kanji froze midway to a forkful going into his mouth, looking at Yukiko like she had just strangled a kitten with her bare hands.

"Y-you guys made this…?" he whimpered, and his reaction in addition to Naoto pulling her hat down was enough to keep Adachi and Dojima from taking a bite themselves.

Rise puffed her cheeks out, looking insulted.  "Hey, what's that reaction for?!"

Before Kanji could answer and possibly upset Rise more, Sayoko cleared her throat, catching Naoto's eye.

"Don't worry," she assured them.  "We made sure they followed a recipe after the first abomination."

"A-abomination…?" Dojima asked, even more reluctant to eat his slice now.

"It… still took us a few tries, even with a recipe, however…" Naoto added, looking fairly ashamed at her own lack of cooking prowess.

The reluctance to actually eat the cake hung heavy around the table.  Nanako looked back and forth between Adachi and her father, before deciding to be the daring one and take a bite from hers.  There was a tense moment where Kanji was staring at her, worried they were going to have to rush her back to the hospital again, before she beamed happily.

"It's really good!" Nanako exclaimed.  "The icing is really creamy, and the cake is really fluffy!"

Relief washed over the table, and the girls – now assured that their cake was actually a success – took their own slices.

The hour ticked by slowly as they enjoyed the cake, leaving crumbs behind before long.  It was not until Nanako started leaning against Adachi, struggling not to drift off to sleep that he realized how late it was.  Dojima stood up to carry her to bed as the others cleaned up, saying their goodbyes before trickling out one by one.  Sayoko lingered with Adachi, waiting for Dojima to rejoin them so they could take advantage of the liquor before they would call it a night themselves.

Even as Adachi headed home after walking Sayoko to her place, her leaning against him the entire time, the feeling of warmth still lingered behind in his chest.  He had friends that he could stay with and have fun with, and share in their triumphs and help each other get through tough times.  Even though the end of the case lingered behind them, they were all still together, and stronger for it.

They were family, and they meant more to him than anything in the world.

~.oOOo.~

The days that followed felt like a dream that Adachi did not want to wake up from.  January brought a much needed week of vacation time for both Dojima, Adachi, _and_ Sayoko, and Saki surprised everyone by suggesting they take advantage of the time with everyone free to go skiing.  Adachi had to admit that despite the cold and the overabundance of snow, it had been a fun time.  He even found out him and Naoto had another thing in common, in the respect that they both hated the taste of snow from the numerous times they had face planted into it while trying to learn how to ski.

February was a reminder for him that there was actually a holiday that month.  Adachi had never celebrated Valentine's Day, having never had anyone to celebrate it with, so suddenly being bombarded with friendship chocolate from Yukiko, Rise, Naoto, and Saki was more than a little surprising.  The handmade, heart shaped chocolate that tasted faintly of strawberries from Sayoko, however, had come fairly close to utterly flooring him in shock – and this was not even taking into consideration the look she gave him when offering it to him.

It was the week that White Day fell on that found Adachi gazing off into space at work, his mind more on what he was going to get Sayoko as a return gift than it was on his work.  As such, he did not see the envelope Dojima was trying to hand to him until it came crashing down on his head.  He let out a squeak of surprise, the arm he had his head perched on shooting out to the side as he crashed spectacularly onto his desk.

"Adachi, pay attention, will you?!" Dojima demanded, dropping the manila envelope on top of his head for emphasis before going over to his own desk.  "You've got a notice from the prefectural office."

"Eh?" he muttered, grabbing the envelope before lifting his head.  "For me…?"

Adachi hesitated, staring at the envelope, his brain trying to piece together what it might have been for and failing miserably.  Finally, he turned it over, tearing open the seal and pulling out the single sheet of paper inside… and feeling his stomach bottom out.  Dojima glanced up when his partner did not say anything, raising an eyebrow at the blank look on his face.

"Well?  What is it?"

Adachi's mouth worked, trying to remember what words were and for a moment failing utterly.

"It's…" he finally managed to get out.  "It's a transfer request.  They want me to go back to the city."


	51. Chapter Forty – Transfer

News of his transfer went over just about as well as Adachi expected, with reaction ranging from disappointment to outright devastated.  Saki told him he was not allowed to leave, while Naoto patiently reminded him that transfer _request_ meant that he did not have to accept it.  Dojima tried to be encouraging, knowing that Adachi was a city boy and a city cop at heart, and adapting to the country life was an ever present struggle, but he could see the reluctance to encourage him in his face.  He did not want him to leave, not after everything that happened.  Sayoko outright refused to talk to him at first, and when she finally did it started with punching him, followed by a reminder that he had promised not to leave.

Teddie's response had hurt the most, however; of course the bear was sad that he was leaving, and he knew he could not follow.  There was no way he could leave Inaba, not with the way into the TV still open, not with the possibility of someone obtaining their power and abusing the other world again.  To make matters worse, Adachi came home a few days before he was to leave, only to trod right over a pencil left on the ground.  He swore loudly, barreling right into the other room… only to see Teddie hunched over the table, intently focused on a book in front of him.  Notebooks and pencils and pages of study material surrounded him, and for a moment, Adachi could only lean back and stare in surprise.

"What… what are you doing?" he finally managed to get out.

"M'studying," Teddie mumbled in answer, not looking up from the book he was tackling.  "I gotta study so I can take that 'test' thing that gets you into high school, and then I can learn with Nao-chan and the others."

He finally lifted his head up then, beaming a smile at Adachi.  "And then I can go to a big school and be just as smart as you, sensei!"

Again, Adachi found himself staring, at a complete loss for words.  After a moment, he finally sat down beside him at the table, resting a hand on his head, before he dropped it down to close the book he had been reading.

"Okay, first rule of studying?  Know when to take a break."

It hurt… he did not want to leave.  He wanted to help Teddie study and get into high school, he wanted to be by everyone's side, he still wanted to be Dojima's partner.  It seemed that everything was against Adachi leaving, even his own car.  The week he was supposed to leave, the ailing vehicle finally died entirely in a plume of smoke coming from the engine.  He tried to take it to a mechanic, but the guy just looked at him, like he was about to burst out laughing at the very notion of trying to fix it.

Dojima assured him that the prefecture would provide him a train ticket, but it brought Adachi little reassurance.  He went about his days limp and listless, reluctantly packing boxes of his things that Dojima promised to ship to the city, as well as Teddie's belongings.  His partner assured him he would look after Teddie, and he had every faith he would, but…

_He did not want this._

It was the day before he was meant to leave, and Adachi was at work for the last time in the Inaba precinct, flopped over at his desk.  Everyone was encouraging, congratulating him for being able to go home, and he accepted it all with a forced smile and a thank you, but he just wanted to tell them all to shut up.  Was he really going home…?  No, of course he was not; so why was he even going through with this?  Because it was expected of him?  Because it had been what he wanted when he first arrived?  But it was okay for that want to change, right?  But at the same time, it would be an opportunity for him to do great things, things he could not do in Inaba…

He was so lost in his own circular thoughts that he did not even register Dojima dropping his mail on his head.  His partner stood there for a moment, hands on his hips, before letting out a frustrated sigh.

"Adachi."

No response.

_"Adachi."_

No response.

Dojima's hands came slamming down on his desk.

_"ADACHI!"_

That got Adachi to move at least, rolling his head around on his desk and tilting it up to look at him.  The action drew another irritable sigh out of Dojima, and he pinched the bridge of his nose, shaking his head.

"I can't believe I'm suggesting this, but… get out.  Go on one of your 'patrols'."

Adachi lifted his head at that, giving him an uncertain look.  "Are you sure?"

"It's better than watching you moping around the station all day," Dojima replied, leaving it at that.  Of anyone there, he at least understood that this was not a happy option for him.

Adachi glanced reluctantly around the room, before grabbing the letter from his head, stuffing it in his pocket and pulling himself out of his seat so he could leave the station.  The weather was starting to warm up for the upcoming spring, and as he turned the corner at the end of the street the station was on, he found himself hit in the face with a burst of sakura petals from a low hanging tree branch.  Inaba was going to burst out into absolute beauty soon, continuing on as it always would, minus the fog, and he… was not going to be around to see it…

His wanderings took him around town, through the shopping district, the river bank, and eventually he made his way to Junes and the food court.  He paused there, staring at the table they would always sit at time and again to go over the case, or to make sure they were organized before entering the TV, or just to hang out with one another.  Even after all was said and done, Dojima would join him on occasion, using the excuse that it was okay as long as they were doing work.  Since he came onto the team so late… well, "work" was one of the last things he did, and he knew he was enjoying himself anyway.

Now…

"Sensei!"

Adachi was interrupted from his gloomy thoughts by Teddie's voice, and he turned to see him squeaking his way over to him, decked out in his bear suit for work.  Saki was just behind him, her apron slung over her shoulder, looking like she just finished her shift.

"Going around to see everyone one last time?" she asked, a hint of annoyance in her voice.  She let out a sigh after a moment, shaking her head.  "…sorry, that's not very fair.  We all know you've wanted to go back to the city."

"Yeah…" Adachi mumbled, glancing away.  An uncomfortable silence settled between them, before Saki grabbed him by the arm, steering him over to their table to sit down.  He flopped down into his usual seat, looking around at the faces he was probably never going to see again as Saki took her own seat and Teddie crowded up next to him.  For a moment there was silence, before Saki thumped her arms on the table, clearly trying not to be annoyed.

"If this transfer is making you so miserable, then why are you taking it?" she demanded.  "What good will working in the city do you if you're not going to have your heart in it?"

"It's a good opportunity," Adachi replied, though his response was more automatic than anything.

"What good is an opportunity if it's just going to make you and everyone you know miserable!?" she demanded, a hand slapping down on the table for emphasis.  Adachi could not find an answer for her, and she ended up blowing out her irritation in a frustrated sigh.

"…it's not just that," he continued, getting her to glance at him again.  "I feel like… something's off.  Like I'm missing something."

That made Saki's annoyance with him fizzle out quickly, and she leaned a little closer, interest on her face.

"Like what?"

"Like… how did this all start?" he replied, a bit of life coming back to his face for the first time since he had gotten the notice.  "I didn't have this power before coming to Inaba.  So why did I when I came here?  And why was it me?  Why was it Seito or Ichijou?"

"That's…" Saki began, before leaning back in her seat.  "…that's a very good point."

He leaned forward himself, about to say more, when he heard a crinkling sound from his pocket.  In all his dazed wandering, he had completely forgotten about the letter Dojima had flopped on his head that morning.  His hand reached for it then, a feeling of trepidation he could not explain rising in his throat as he smoothed it out, before flipping it over to see who sent it.  His stomach visited his shoes when his eyes fell on the name, his mouth suddenly going dry.

"…it's from Seito."

Saki's eyes widened as Teddie huddled closer, but Adachi ignored them both as he ripped the envelope open, stomach returning to its place as he felt his heart hammering a march in his chest.  He smoothed the letter out, reading it out loud:

> Adachi-san,
> 
> Congratulations are due to you for bringing my   
> game to an end.  You deserve all the praise you   
> no doubt have been given by now.
> 
> I have confessed to everything, and despite the   
> court psychiatrists desperately trying to find   
> some way to prove I'm insane, my fate is assured.    
> It will be a relief, I think; no matter how hard   
> people tried, this world holds no joy for me.  I   
> think I will feel better, knowing I do not have to   
> endure it any longer.
> 
> Knowing this, I thought to bring you at least one   
> kindness before they decide to end my life:   
> something about this whole situation seems less   
> than finished.  I did not know about the Midnight   
> Channel or my own powers until I came here; I   
> certainly could not put my hand through TVs into   
> another world while I was in the city, and I suspect   
> the same is true for you.
> 
> Someone gave us this power, and made the events   
> of this year possible, but I do not know who could   
> have done so.  All I remember is feeling ill not   
> long after I first arrived.
> 
> I hope this information aids you.
> 
> Seito 

Adachi stared at the note long after he finished reading, at a loss as to how to respond.  He knew it was too late for the kid, but… he could feel the sincerity behind his wish for his note to be helpful.  It was a long moment before he could set the letter down, and he glanced up at Saki, who looked uncertain as to how to respond.  Finally, she shook herself out of her surprise, meeting his gaze.

"So he was sick when he first arrived, right?" she asked.  "What happened when you first arrived?"

"I…" Adachi began, frowning to himself.  What _did_ happen when he first arrived in Inaba?  So much happened right off the bat with the murders and the TV that he forgot about the mundane stuff.  He remembered his car was making funny noises, but he just went straight to his new apartment after arriving…

…right?

No, wait; he did stop somewhere!  His muffler had been falling off the back of his car as usual, and… someone shoved it back on when he stopped.  _Where_ did he stop…?

He suddenly shot up from his seat, and Teddie let out a wail of surprise, leaning back before he got pushed over.  Saki stared up at Adachi, eyes widening in surprise, but he was already moving away from the table, outright jumping the fence to get on the path that led away from the store.  She called after him, but he was already on the street by the time it registered in his brain, and he just could not stop, so wrapped up in the thoughts running through his head.  The murders, their powers, the TV, everything that occurred through the year…

It just _could not_ have started that _simple…_

It started to rain as soon as he got to the shopping district, and people were retreating to the safety of the indoors as his feet splashed through puddles in the sidewalk.  By the time he made it to the gas station, there was no one around to see how utterly soaked through he was.  Adachi huddled under the overhang, looking around for someone wearing that annoyingly bright red and yellow uniform…

"Detective?"

Adachi froze at the voice behind him, twinges of memory clawing at the back of his skull.  He turned to see the person that called out to him, wearing the Moel station's ugly uniform, curly grey hair sticking out of the boy's hat and red eyes staring at him curiously.  It was frightening how much he looked like Seito; in fact, if it was not for the eyes and that obnoxious uniform, he probably would not have been able to pick him out from a crowd.

…and did he always have red eyes?

"You…" he began, starting toward him.  "It was you… all this time, you were here, and you watched everything, didn't you?"

Adachi's hand snapped out, grabbing the attendant and slamming him up against the nearest gas pump as hard as he could.

"What the _hell_ did you do to us!?  _Why!?"_

Everything happened very fast.  The surprised look that was on the attendant's face melted away to a look of utter scorn and loathing, and next thing Adachi knew he was sprawled out on the middle of the street.  Pain from his back and rear end registered in his brain a moment later, and he let out a groan as he heard the sound of footsteps approaching him.  Before he had a chance to push himself up, the attendant was reaching down, grabbing him by the hair and easily lifting him up to the point his feet were dangling centimeters from the ground.

"You dare lay your hands on me?" the attendant demanded.  "Do not presume yourself capable of _anything_ just because you stand where he was meant to."

Adachi flailed, fingers clawing uselessly at the attendant's hand; well, it could not be any more obvious that this was someone like that giant eyeball.  Now if he could just let go of his hair and stop proving it, that would be great!

"Who the hell are you?!" he demanded, trying to aim a kick at him in a vain effort to get him to let go.

His leg did not connect, because suddenly he was aiming for wispy tendrils of fog.  It took Adachi a moment to realize that the ground was also a lot farther away than it had been before, when he was finally dropped, landing hard on his feet before he flopped backward, landing on his behind again.  A hand went to his forehead as he tried to figure out what the hell happened, before he looked up… and up, to see the attendant draped in an impossibly long white kimono floating above him.

_"I… am Izanami."_

Adachi stared in surprise, though he supposed he should have seen this coming.  His own Persona, Izanagi, the fact that it was shared by Seito… maybe even Kou would have had a version of him if he had learned how to use his powers properly.  Not only that, but Seito himself… and his dead sister, Seiki, and how much both of them looked like her… this was starting to lead down paths Adachi was not thrilled about.

 _"Indeed, it was I that gave you the handshake greeting that gave you power, in addition to many outsiders like you,"_ she continued.  _"But you, a constant, awakened to power you were not meant to, and now you dare to challenge me with it?"_

Adachi forced himself back up to his feet, despite the fact that his head was begging him not to move so fast, every hair follicle on his head throbbing in protest.

"Your pet eyeball was saying that too," he began.  "What the hell do you two mean?!"

Izanami glared down at him, red eyes narrowed into slits as a cruel smirk appeared on her face.

 _"Do you comprehend so little?"_ she asked.  _"As I said, you are meant to be a constant, one that is influenced, not one that influences.  Your role has been set in stone across countless realities where these events and those similar to them occur, except for this one."_

"So what does that _mean?!"_ Adachi demanded, starting to get frustrated.  Why did all these weirdoes have to be so damn cryptic?  "Was I never supposed to get involved?!"

A satisfied look seemed to creep onto her face as she gazed down at him, like she was putting him in his place with just her eyes.

 _"Think your role so simple?"_ she asked.  _"With how Empty you were before all transpired, can you really not see what you were meant for?"_

She floated down closer to him as Adachi took a step back, feeling his stomach starting to bottom out at what she said.  He did not want to believe it, but… it had been gnawing at the back of his mind.  And what Naoto had said… he knew what it meant to feel "Empty".  He had been an intolerable ass before he met Seiki, and there had been that lingering thought in the back of his head for the longest time.  Of course, he had not thought of it since after confronting his Shadow, but the reminder of what he was…

_Empty…_

"You're… saying I was supposed to kill them," he murmured, knowing it was true before the words even left his mouth.  The arrogance on Izanami's face did not help the hollow feeling forming in his chest at the realization, and he found himself taking another step back.  He would not… he would never…

_But the thought already occurred to him once…_

_"I cannot look at this alteration with idle curiosity any longer,"_ Izanami finally continued.  _"This time, I shall pit my full strength against_ you.  _But you must come prepared to do the same."_

The fog increased, and Adachi had to raise his arm, struggling to squint through the haze but it was useless.  By the time the fog ebbed back enough for him to see, she was already gone.  The rain began to fizzle out shortly after, leaving him standing soaking wet in the middle of the street.  He did not care about that, at the moment; his mind was still reeling from the conversation, and he could feel his stomach doing flips.  It finally twisted, sending a sick feeling straight through his body and leaving him struggling not to throw up.  No, no; he could not focus on what was said right now.  He had to get the others and—

He was midway to reaching for his phone when he froze, a different feeling of dread rising up in his throat.  They had faced Ameno-Sagiri together, and the others had barely survived the encounter.  Now here was the goddess herself, the mother of creation if you believed anything Shinto had to say about it, and… he was just going to drag them back to their deaths for real this time?  Adachi's hand slowly lowered, clenching at his sides; he could not do it.  He could not ask them to come with him, when he already had a feeling what would happen if he did.

Besides, knowing what he did now, how could he ask them?

Adachi blew out a breath, before turning on his heel and heading down the street to get back to the station and slip in the back way.  This time?  This time he was going to have to go it alone.

~.oOOo.~

As soon as he entered the TV world he could feel it: an overwhelming presence somewhere deep inside that had not been there before, but at the same time, felt like it had always been there.  Adachi felt his feet propelling themselves down one of the many paths they had walked before, heading over one of the walkways that had gaps between the railings… and then veering off between one of those gaps.  He almost panicked once he realized what he was doing, only to have his feet come in contact with something solid.

He paused at that first step, letting out a shaking breath as dread started to claw up his spine, before he surrendered himself to instinct again.  His feet kept him going, down, down, into the yellowish foggy expanse that surrounded the stage area of the TV world.  Eventually he found himself choked in a heavy whiteness that not even his glasses could penetrate, before the steps he was walking on finally came into view, striped red and black, and the fog slowly started to peel away, revealing a twisting, angular tunnel of red and black cutting through the white.  He came to the end of the staircase he had been walking down, and proceeded down along a red tiled floor, outlined in black, through the tunnel and into the open area.

Adachi stopped then, taking in the endless fog that surrounded the area, just barely shrouding the red and black bricks that hovered in the open air.  Even with his subpar senses, he could feel the presence of Shadows some distance away, but they were not coming toward him.  If anything it felt like they were waiting for him to come to them, not something comforting in the least.  That was not even the worst part about this place.

He knew he had been here before.

A chuckle rang through the air in the next moment, and Adachi looked up, half expecting to see her hovering above him again.  Izanami never appeared, but her voice soon rang out over the landscape.

 _"So, you arrive to face me alone,"_ she began.  _"He only did that once, though his blade was far less kind compared to the others."_

"You're talking about Seito-kun, aren't you?" Adachi called out to the empty air, starting forward.  Another chuckle from her met his ears in return.

 _"He has many names across the realities,"_ she explained.  _"But yes, the one I refer to is your opposite, no matter what world it is.  He is the one that is meant to change, and he has in every single reality.  Even in this anomaly, he is different from the others."_

"Lucky me," Adachi replied, coming to a stop just outside another covered section like the one he left, feeling his skin crawling in trepidation.  The Shadows were there, starting in that alcove; he knew if he took another step forward, they would be all over him in an instant.  The sensation of them just waiting, ready to pounce was thick in the air, and he felt his hand tighten further around the hilt of his sword out of instinct.

Izanami let out a rude noise.  _"Your luck in this world is either abysmal or legendary, I am uncertain as to which.  The fact that you exist at all is a problem I intend to rectify shortly."_

That got Adachi to twitch in annoyance.  What was so bad about him being the good guy, hunh?  Sure, he was not a kid; he was more or less set in his ways, and his supposed limitless potential as a Wild Card was fairly finite.  Despite all that, that did not mean he could not make an effort to change, to be a better person.

"Just because I'm me, doesn't mean I can't be who I want to be!" he snapped at the air, charging forward.

Her laughter echoed through the Empty air as the Shadows pounced on him as soon as he invaded their den.  His sword lashed out, largely out of instinct, relieving one of a gnarled, clawed hand before he was forced to duck and roll to avoid another swipe aimed for his head.  It could not have been any more obvious that he was in a place straight out of myth: the creatures he was facing were clearly the minions of Izanami.  Wretched witches with hair that covered their entire bodies, gnarled spearmen with their dead faces hidden from view; Adachi could not stop and think about what he was coming up against, or he was going to end up joining them.

He made his way through them, out of the covered area and back out into the open air.  The sounds of Shadows followed behind him, and he could hear them ahead as well, just waiting for the opportunity to strike out and keep the "anomaly" from reaching the end of the road.  Adachi reached out as the next covered area came up, his Fool card coming to his hand.

_"Izanagi!"_

His Persona shot forward, sword held out to his side as he reached a clawed hand out.  The covered area lit up with lightning and the cries of dying Shadows as Adachi zipped through behind Izanagi.  A stack of Shadows in the shape of _tables_ of all things came crashing down from above, and Izanagi's sword lashed out then, splinters of dark wood flying everywhere as the two of them emerged once again into open air.  They dashed down the path, his Persona flying at his side, as Izanami's laughter echoed around them once more.

_"Why do you struggle?  All of this has been chosen by mankind.  Even your own feeble power is still within mankind's scope.  You know very well what awaits you down this familiar path; why do you continue?  Do you truly believe you can best me?"_

"Won't know until I try!" Adachi shouted at the empty air, skidding to a stop when he encountered a door.  Izanagi burst through first, and that seemed like the best choice he could have made, as there was a Shadow waiting for them on the steps.  His Persona's blade easily cleaved through the dark creature before pushing on.

The next path down was more of the same, with the witches and spearmen of the underworld becoming steadily more relentless.  Adachi felt more focused on the task before him than he ever been about anything in his life, and what Shadows were not struck down by Izanagi's blade met his own.  He could not back down, even if he was ultimately throwing himself toward something that would kill him without so much as a thought.  If he did not _try,_ if he did nothing but allow Izanami to persist and one day bring the fog back, he would not have been able to forgive himself.

Down, down… the further he went down the Yomotsu Hirasaka, the foggier it became, until it felt like his first time there all over again.  Adachi almost felt like he could choke on the fog, and he had to start taking his steps with much more caution, least he send himself flying off the edge by accident.  Relief was in sight after several flights down, however; he could see that door that he had passed through in his dream, just down the way.  Both he and his Persona picked up the pace, barreling toward the door, only to come to a quick stop as the ground trembled underneath Adachi's feet.

He backed away as a dark pool began to bubble up on the center of the platform that led to the door, starting to engulf the whole area.  The horns emerged first, red and black and looking like they could gore through a person with barely any effort.  Its head followed, attached upside down to a thick neck burdened with chains.  A pair of giant, meaty fists pulled themselves out next, dragging the rest of the minotaur's gigantic body out with it.

_"The power you have attained and your determination to face me… allow me to see just how strong they are."_

"Oh you cheap bi—"

Adachi was cut off as the minotaur's huge fists came crashing down where he was standing, forcing him to move or continue his life as a pancake.  The ground cracked on impact, and he just barely had the opportunity to let out a breath of relief before he had to force himself to move again as huge muscled arms came sweeping out toward him.  He had barely enough time to pause for breath before he had to move yet again, keeping one step ahead of the monster's brutal strikes while Izanagi used his lightening to take potshots at the creature.

Of course, that did not last long, and an arm swept out, catching Izanagi in the midsection and sending the Persona shooting off to impact against a pillar.  Adachi stumbled at that, an arm wrapping around his midsection as he collapsed to his knees; _dammit_ that hurt!  He could not stay down, and he struggled to push himself back to his feet even as the monster started to raise its fists again…

_"Yamato-Takeru!"_

A blade that was not Izanagi's shot out then, easily cutting through the monster's hand and sending it recoiling from Adachi in pain.  The fist thumped to the ground in front of him before vanishing, and he peered around the reeling creature to see Naoto standing at the entrance to the area, the others running to catch up just behind her.  Dojima was reaching out as he approached, and suddenly there was Okuninushi, calling upon a divine fist to come crashing down on the minotaur's head, much like it had been trying to do to Adachi.  With the creature dazed, it was a quick sweep of fire and wind from Yukiko and Saki respectively that finished it off, leaving Adachi shuffling away as it dissolved back into the floor.

He let out a groan once it finally vanished entirely, turning his focus on getting back up to his feet and missing it as Dojima approached.  The next thing he knew, Adachi had a fist coming down on the back of his head, sending him yelping to the floor.

"O-ow!  Geeze, what was that for?!" he demanded, looking up at Dojima.  "What are you all even doing here?!"

"Don't be an idiot, Adachi," Dojima replied gruffly.  "Konishi called me as soon as you ran off.  Of course when she told me about the letter, I remembered about Seito getting sick.  It didn't take much to figure out you would go to the gas station."

"I questioned the elderly couple that own that station," Naoto explained as she and the others joined them.  "They said the station was supposed to be self serve; they never hired an attendant to assist customers."

"It wasn't that hard to figure out where you went from there," Rise finished for her, folding her hands behind her back.  "But man, did you have to go running in without us?"

"Seriously man, that ain't cool," Kanji added, pounding a fist in his open palm.  "C'mon, we've been through all kinds of shit together!  Why the hell would you leave us behind now?"

"But…" Adachi began, looking back down at the ground.  How could they want to throw themselves into this situation again, after everything that had happened against that giant eyeball?  Before he could continue, Saki stepped forward, a reassuring expression on her face.

"We all came this far because we wanted to know the truth of what happened last year," she began, shaking her head.  "We've learned more than just that, though; we've learned the truth about ourselves as well.  It's not always pleasant… but the truth never is.  The only thing we can do is accept it, and move on toward making ourselves better with it… right?"

Adachi looked up at her then, and she held a hand out for him, offering him help back up.  It took a moment for the soft smile to work its way onto his face as he reached out for her, the others joining in to help him get back up to his feet.  He rubbed a tired hand over his forehead, looking at each one of them in turn; he had no idea what the hell he did to inspire the kind of loyalty that would have people running to their deaths because of him.  Even though he had run off alone to keep them from doing this… he was happy they were there all the same.

"You know, we're going up against a goddess here; Izanami herself," he pointed out.  "Could get kind of sticky."

Kanji just waved a dismissive hand.  "Eh, if it gets bad, we could just have Yukiko cook for her."

Yukiko looked like she was going to blow her hair band off at that.  "K-Kanji!  My cooking isn't _that_ bad!"

He just turned to her, unbothered despite the look of rage that was being directed at him.  "Oh c'mon; you had me try omelet rice the other day that had all those ingredients in it and came out tasting like _nothing._  That kind of cooking has to be enough to take a god down, right?"

A round of laughter passed around the group at her expense, despite how crestfallen she looked as a result, poking her fingers together mournfully.  It did not last long, however; the ground began to rumble slightly, and the door the minotaur had been guarding let out a noticeable creaking noise.  It sounded like _someone_ was getting impatient, and Adachi could not help but smirk a little at that.

 _"You'll resist to the end, won't you…?"_ Izanami's voice came from behind the door, and Adachi could feel Teddie's fingers clinging to his sleeve in fear.  He reached over, giving his blonde head a reassuring pat as she continued, _"Then I shall fight for 'the good of mankind' with all my strength as well.  You are but a few, pitted against the wishes of the many.  Not all mankind seeks the truth… many would willingly live in blissful ignorance, surrounded in the peaceful fog of their own lies."_

"Mankind is not as weak hearted as you seem to think," Sayoko shouted at the empty air.

"Even if the whole world is against us, we've come too far to back down now!" Yukiko chimed in.

Silence filled the Empty air, before her soft laughter surrounded them again, punctuated with the sound of stone on stone as the doorway before them slowly slid open.  The path forward was revealed, shrouded in fog, but even with that blocking their vision, they could easily see that the end of the road stood stretched out before them.

_"Then come, sinful sons of man.  Prove to me the will of the few can move the hearts of all mankind."_

Adachi paused then, looking over the determined faces of his team once.  He did not need to ask if they were really okay with moving forward; he could tell it would just get him yelled at.  A moment passed before he nodded to himself, taking the first step forward…


	52. Chapter Forty-one – Prove to Me

_…what was he doing?_

_He couldn't really see straight through the blinding, irrational sort of rage that blurred his sight and made his breathing come up short.  Something soft and warm was in his hands, and as he squeezed, he could feel it give slightly, though there was something hard just under the softness.  There was something blinding practically right in his face; he couldn't see, and some part of him didn't care to either.  He heard a scream around the ringing in his ears, and the soft thing slipped from his hands, drawing a feeling of mirth from him that had his mouth twisting into a gleeful sneer.  That brightness encompassed his vision, and he found himself yelling._

_"Get on your knees and beg and maybe I'll let you out!"_

_He pulled his head out of the brightness, and he could finally see the television before him, the same one they always went in to get to the other world.  His hand was tight around the frame of the TV, and he let out a sharp laugh._

_"Ha!  As if I'd go into that death trap."_

_…what did he just do?  Why…?  Did he…?_

_Did he just kill someone?_

_No… please no… he couldn't… he didn't want…!_

_"ADACHI!"_

Something struck him hard across the face, and he found himself stumbling backward.  The real world snapped back into focus, and he found himself staring at Saki with wide, terrified eyes.  Her hand was still up from when she slapped him, but it was shaking, just as much as she was.  She was scared, maybe even just as scared as he was, and it made him wonder if she had seen what he saw from a different perspective.

It took a moment for Adachi to pull his thoughts together and try to remember what happened.  They had passed through the doors and confronted Izanami, but… there was fog, and that illusion – or was it even an illusion?  It had felt so real, and looking around, he could see that he was not the only one that had been trapped up in some kind of fantasy.  Yukiko was on her knees, hugging her arms to herself and whimpering, "Chie," over and over, with Kanji and Naoto trying to help her pull herself together.  Rise stood apart from them, hugging her arms to her chest and squeezing her eyes shut as Teddie clung to her arm, peering up at her mournfully.  Dojima's jaw was set, a grim expression on his face, and it was a moment before him and Sayoko both glanced over to Adachi, uncertainty hinted in their eyes.

_"And now you understand."_

Adachi's head snapped away from Saki, and then up high above them.  That was right… they had confronted Izanami, stood before her in challenge.  She tried to tell them all that they were not supposed to exist as they were, or even exist at all.  At first they had thought that she was just trying to stall what was coming, but then the fog rolled in… and that vision…

_…he killed Saki._

Now Izanami towered high above them, impossibly huge and practically inhuman.  Her features were completely concealed in white, including her face, with her arms crossed over her chest and bound in red belts.  There was no "bottom" part to her that they could see, just a massive, angular skirt that reached down like a claw, part of it disappearing into the massive pit she was hovering over.

"Understand what?" Kanji demanded up at her.  "All I saw was a bunch of shit that didn't actually happen!"

"Perhaps Adachi-san was not 'meant' to lead us," Naoto began, reaching up to pull her cap down over her eyes, "but he is, and despite circumstances, he has done an admirable job."

"How dare you…" Yukiko hissed, finally managing to pull herself to her feet.  "How dare you try to torment us with things we can't have!  I'll never forgive you!  _Konohana Sakuya!"_

Her Persona appeared in a blue blaze of Yukiko's fury, fire cascading from her feathered train and blanketing the entire area that Izanami hovered over, some spilling over the sides.  Rise let out a squeak as she jumped back, her hair nearly getting singed, but the anger was creeping up onto her face as well, and soon Kanzeon was joining the fray, her speakers flying out and surrounding the god.  Powerful sound waves shot out in the next moment, buffeting the goddess, though she seemed largely unbothered by the attack.

Sayoko stepped back behind them, Ame no Uzume coming to being at her command.  Her fingers flew over the screens, her expression continuing to darken steadily as she did so.   It was a moment before she finally looked up at the goddess again, an unsettled expression on her face.

"I-I can't get a reading on her; there's too much interfering with my scan," she reported.  "Try to wear her down; I might be able to get something!"

"You got it!"  Kanji shouted, cracking his knuckles.  _"Rokuten Maoh!"_

His flame decorated bruiser of a Persona appeared, massive sword swinging in a wide arc, hitting Izanami square in the chest.  She barely even flinched, and not even a mark scratched through her white bindings.  Yamato-Takeru appeared a moment later, along with Okuninushi, and the smaller Persona shot out, sword flashing all over the goddess's body as a divine fist came crashing down on top of her.  Again she barely seemed to be bothered by their attacks, hovering there more like a mother waiting for a child to get through a temper tantrum.

"React _somehow!"_ Saki shouted. _"Kushinada!"_

_"K-Kamui!"_

Teddie looked like he was going to start shaking in his shoes as he called on his Persona, the barrel-like creature with the missile attached to its behind zooming right behind Kushinada.  Wind shot up around the goddess, followed immediately by the bear's ice, and still it seemed to be doing nothing to her.  Sayoko's hands were moving as fast as possible, and one glance at her made it obvious that they were not doing anything to her.

Adachi looked at her, and back to Izanami, a lost expression on his face.  What was he supposed to do?  How could he expect everyone to keep fighting, when…

"Adachi!" Saki shouted at him.  "Snap out of it!"

"I…" he began, feeling his hands shaking as his gaze went back down to her.  She looked like she was going to yell at him for a moment, but the words died before she could get them out.  Of course she knew why he was freezing up, and as much as she wanted to tell him everything was okay, she just could not manage it.

_"What's the matter?  Are you so feeble that you cannot even raise a hand to fight?"_

Something suddenly grabbed onto Adachi's leg, and he looked down to see a shadowy, clawed hand reaching out from the ground, holding him tight.  Panic set in quickly as more hands reached out from the floor, trying to grab for his legs, and he found himself wobbling unsteadily, sinking into the ground as darkness spread out around his feet.  Before he even had a chance to scream in surprise, he felt himself pulled hard and left sprawled out on the ground.  He blinked for a moment, dazed, before he looked back to see that Saki had pulled him out of the way, and the hands were grabbing for her instead.  They grabbed her legs and pulled at her skirt, dragging her down much faster than they had been trying to do to him.

 _"Saki!"_ Adachi screamed, trying to grab for her.  Instead of letting him grab her, she pushed him away, helping him narrowly avoid another hand trying to grab for him.

A scream came from the side, and Adachi's head whipped around to see that the others were being grabbed for too.  Rise was already nearly disappeared into the floor, with Kanji trying to smash the hands grabbing for him, even as more latched onto him and dragged him down.  Both Naoto and Dojima had the idea to try and shoot the hands, but the bullets seemed to pass through as if they were not even corporeal, and Naoto's gun ended up knocked from her hand as one reached high up from the ground, clawed fingers digging into her forehead as the hand _shoved_ her down hard.

"Adachi, get out of here!" Dojima shouted, struggling as hard as he could as both Yukiko and Sayoko disappeared into the ground, despite how hard they were trying to fight.

"B-but…!" Adachi protested, trying to run over and at the very _least_ save his partner.  Even as he managed to get a hand on his arm, however, he knew it was useless; as soon as he grabbed him, he could feel the hands pulling harder to keep him from getting any leverage.  Dojima let out a grunt as they dragged him further down, putting as much weight into shoving Adachi off as he could.  He stumbled away, a desperate look on his face.

"Dojima-san!"

"I said get out of here!" Dojima shouted at him, struggling to stay above the floor long enough to yell at him.  _"Listen to me_ for once!"

Dojima's head disappeared under the floor, and Adachi was left staring at the empty space before him, where everyone had been standing.  They were all gone, dragged down into… into _what?!_ They could not be dead… they just could not, not that easily, not after everything they had been through!

_"The time has come for us to end this."_

Adachi let out a faint noise, not sure what he was supposed to do.  Just… this could not be happening; why did she not just take him?  He was supposed to be the one that was _wrong,_ right?  Why did they all have to suffer too?!  He spun around, staring up at her with a desperate look on his face, like he wanted to beg her to bring them back, for all the good it would do him.

_"Goodbye.  With your death, this abysmal timeline will be eradicated."_

The hands suddenly shot up from the ground around Adachi, and he let out a shout as they all grabbed him at once, holding onto his arms and his legs tight as the ground under him suddenly felt like it had the constancy of quick sand again.  He shouted… but he found himself choking the scream off; what was the point, really?

There was no one there to hear him.

There was no one there to save him.

There was no one there to see him slip beneath the floor and into darkness…

~.oOOo.~

The fog was closing in…

He could feel his consciousness fading…

This was how everything was going to end?  Was he really so useless that he could not even save one person he cared about?

But…

Even in the fog, he could feel… something… but would it really matter anymore?  It's not like he could bring himself back from the edge of death.

…right?

 _"What do you think you're doing?"_ a familiar voice echoed in his consciousness.  He could almost picture Michael standing over him, the Compendium tucked under his arm, looking like he was not sure if he should kick him or not.  _"Get up.  Do you really think I'm going to let you fall here?"_

He let out a faint noise, trying to do that, but… what was the point?  A frustrated grumble escaped from Michael in response, his foot tapping against the ground.

_"Don't you see?  What do you think was the point of building such a community of companions around yourself?  Listen; their voices are within you."_

Silence fell again, but it was not long before he could feel another presence standing over him.  He could picture him too, jacket slung over his shoulder, annoyed look on his face, and another person with that urge to kick him.  There had to be quite a few people with that urge.

 _"Adachi!  Stop being so lazy!  You're not allowed to just rest here!"_ Dojima snapped at him, but his voice calmed almost right away.  _"…you taught me a lot, you know.  You showed me the family I had right in front of me.  Nanako… she's all I have now, and I just… couldn't see that.  So please… if I can get back up for her, you can get back up for the rest of us."_

He faded away, but someone else was there immediately, this one hugging her arms to her chest.

 _"Adachi… don't go,"_ Saki pleaded softly.  _"Everything changed when I met you.  Despite how it all started… I would never go back to change it.  You all mean so much to me, and I wouldn't have grown as much as I have if it weren't for you.  So please…_ please… _get up!"_

Again, she faded, only to be replaced with another.  He could feel this one kneeling by him, a hand reached out to him.

 _"Adachi… please.  Don't leave…"_ Sayoko pleaded softly.  _"I'm scared… I feel so powerless.  For all the abilities I have, I can't use them if I'm all alone again. You've protected us all so far, right?  Please… there are so many others that look up to you.  You can't leave them all alone."_

Another one faded, another one replacing her.  This one stood above him again, her hands folded behind her back.

 _"Adachi-san, can you hear me?"_ Yukiko asked softly.  _"I'm… so sorry.  I'm embarrassed how quickly my will dissolved at the thought of being with Chie in another world.  But… that's not real for me.  So give me another chance.  Let me give you my strength so you can stand again."_

She was gone, and another stood before him, pounding his fist into a hand.

 _"C'mon, what kind of detective are you?"_ Kanji grumbled at him.  _"Get off your ass, man.  You're not the kind of guy that can just lie down and take it like this.  That's not the kind of guy I look up to."_

Another gone, and yet another in his place.  She tapped her shoe against the ground, frowning as she looked down at him.

 _"Adachi-san… thank you,"_ Rise began softly.  _"You stood by me from the start, even when you didn't want to.  I'm glad I came to this town.  I'm glad I met you.  So please… get up.  I'll keep fighting with you, no matter what."_

She was gone after a moment, replaced again.  She stood with a hand on her hip like always, though he could feel the confident expression that was always on her face was more forced than usual.

 _"Senpai… if you stay down, I won't forgive you,"_ Naoto began, her voice thick with emotion she was trying to keep back.  _"You gave me a reason to keep going as I am.  You are a terrible role model if you leave me in the dark like this.  Adachi-san… please stand up.  Let's all keep fighting, together."_

She was gone with the rest, and he could feel one last presence standing over him, clutching his hands to his chest.

 _"Sensei…"_ Teddie began, worrying his fingers.  _"I-I'll protect you, sensei.  You gave me life, you gave me a family.  Because of you, I'm not alone anymore.  All of us together… we've been able to do what no one else could do.  So let me be strong for you.  Let me protect you."_

He faded away, and he was finally able to open his eyes.  There was nothing but white, endless fog around him, and Adachi let out a groan as he pushed himself back up to his feet, wobbling unsteadily.  Was he really alive, or was this just part of his unconsciousness?  He could not really tell, and the urge to lay back down and let himself drift off into the fog of lies was _very_ difficult to resist.  A hand went to his forehead, and he shook his head, trying to pull himself back together.

The sound of footsteps approaching suddenly reached his ears, and his head snapped up, peering through the fog to try and see who was coming.  Something dark appeared before it stopped, standing with a book tucked under their arm much like Michael did.  Adachi paused, about to ask who was there, when they moved, pulling the book out in front of them.  Something hazy and blue appeared in the fog, and Adachi's eyes widened, knowing what was coming next.

He threw himself to the side as suddenly a jet of flame shot out from the fog, a jack o' lantern in a witch's hat and cape shooting out just behind it.  Adachi ducked and rolled, about ready to reach out and call on a Persona, but he found himself hesitating to do so, even as the floating pumpkin waved the lantern it was carrying, ready to cast fire at him again…

He could feel a hand on one shoulder, the other resting over his outstretched hand.  He looked to see a familiar delicate, ghostly hand, his eyes widening in surprise.

_"C'mon, Adachi-san.  It's too early for you to give up."_

The Death Arcana appeared before him and shattered itself, the White Rider appearing just in time to block the fire that was being shot at him.  It notched an arrow, letting it loose at the pumpkin and splitting the head down the middle.  The figure in the fog let out a pained sounding grunt, before another flash of blue appeared.  A massive metal hulk took form, looking much like someone decided to put an oversized Jack Frost in a metal dress.  It waved a scepter it was holding, a block of ice coming down to crash on White Rider's head.

Adachi let out a grunt of pain, wavering unsteadily on his feet before falling to his knees.  He was not really hurt, but… if everyone else was gone… if everyone was dead too, then… _why_ was he fighting…?

_"You've got to hold on."_

Adachi let out a surprised noise as Namatame's voice came from behind him, the Tower Arcana appearing and shattering itself just like before.  That… _ridiculous_ penis in the golden chariot appeared, tentacle appendages waving as fire lashed out at the overgrown Jack Frost.

_"You believed me when no one else would.  You fought to find the truth all this time.  You can't give that all up now."_

The owner of the book let out an irritable noise, and Sraosha appeared after a moment, light rising up around Mara.  Adachi reached out without thinking, calling on the Star and Neko Shogun to defend himself against the attack.  He paused for breath, staring out at his outstretched hand like he could not believe it was actually there.  Did he really have the strength to keep going after this?

_"Yes, you do."_

Adachi's eyes widened at the familiar voice, and he jerked his head around, expecting to see him standing behind him, neutral faced as always, but there was nothing.  He turned back, only to see The Lust before him, just waiting for him to reach out to it.

 _"You have strength that I didn't,"_ Seito's voice continued.  _"You have power that I couldn't take, because I was too much of a coward to face a world that had taken everything I loved away from me.  So get up… you're not me, right?"_

Adachi stared at the card for a moment, before he reached out, crushing it in his hand.  Chernobog appeared, and the darkness soon followed it, crushing around Sraosha and utterly obliterating it.  His opponent let out a pained sounding noise, giving Adachi the opportunity to climb back to his feet.  He could see the book snapping closed on a card again, and a woman with a pair of golden sheers in one hand and a long thread in the other appeared.

Adachi was already reaching out, even as the sheers came around the thread, calling for The Hanged Man.

_"Mister!  I'm standing strong for both my moms!  You've gotta stand strong for everyone too!"_

Wind sprang up around where Chernobog was, and no doubt would have hurt if that Persona were still there.  Instead, Hell Biker came bursting forward, the residual wind making the flames surrounding his head and wheels dance wildly.  The skeleton head cackled wildly as it drove straight for the woman, flames shooting out to hit her square in the chest.  There was another grunt of pain from the figure in the fog, and Adachi could see them stumble back slightly.  It was obvious they were weakening from how long it took for the book to come out again, and the woman was replaced with a massively large, black shelled turtle with a serpentine tail.

Adachi was already reaching out as ice flew from the massive creature, hitting Hell Biker and making him wince, but otherwise not bothering him so much.  Whoever the hell this was, he had him on the run now; he was not about to lose that advantage!  The Sun card answered his call, and a fair haired young man appeared, wielding a spear.  Tam Lin's lightning lanced out at the turtle, drawing a pained cry from the creature as it disappeared.

_"This whole town looks up to you, detective.  Please don't give up."_

He could hear his opponent gasping for breath, and he saw them stumble again in the fog before pulling themselves together.  The book came crashing down on a card again, and this time a coffin appeared, a dark hand reaching out menacingly from within.  Adachi could feel the darkness clawing at his Persona, threatening to destroy him, but he endured regardless.

A determined grunt came from within the fog, and he could see the massive book hovering, starting to take a reddish hue instead of the usual blue.  It snapped closed and… the Persona that appeared sent a chill down Adachi's spine.  It was _his_ Persona; red and black, and pure chaos crushing down all around him.  For a moment, he could not breathe, the thought of fighting that thing again, and the thought of who could be behind it freezing him on the spot.

His opponent was not going to give him the chance to get over it; Magatsu Izanagi came barreling toward him, his large blade scraping along the ground.  Adachi threw himself to the side, narrowly avoiding being cleaved in half and skidding along the ground on his rear end.  He reached out as he did, calling on his own Arcana.

_"Izanagi!"_

The Persona answered his call as always, rushing out and smacking into his chaotic counterpart's side, sending the both of them tumbling to the ground.  Izanagi moved to float off, getting himself into a better position to strike back, only to be grabbed by the tails of his headdress.  Magatsu Izanagi whipped Izanagi back onto the ground hard enough to knock the wind out of Adachi, and raised his blade to slam it through his Persona's mask.  Izanagi's own sword came up to block, and his Persona shoved himself up, swinging the weapon in a wide arc in order to get the other to back off.

Magatsu Izanagi floated back, beady yellow eyes staring down his Persona as Izanagi whipped his blade back around, crackles of lightning shooting around it.  With a flick of his wrist, the spell was sent cutting through the air toward his chaotic counterpart, hitting it square in the chest and forcing it to stumble.  Those yellow eyes seemed to glow in fury as it prepared a counter spell.  The air itself began to charge around them, and Adachi flinched, reaching out even as his Persona was already responding with another blast of his own…

The area around them exploded with lightning, leaving Adachi ducking back and covering his face.  It felt like forever passed by before the last of the dust faded and he was left gasping for breath, Izanagi hovering just before him as the remnants of his corrupted duplicate disappeared, before returning to Adachi's soul.  The figure in the fog was staggered on their feet, definitely looking worse for wear despite the fact that he could not see them, and it was a moment before he heard the frantic gasping for breath stop.  Another moment passed before the person pulled themselves together enough to tuck the giant book that was the Compendium under their arm again, and footsteps echoed in the empty space as they stepped forward, through the fog, and…

Admittedly, Adachi did not know what he was expecting.  It could have been Michael for all he knew, and maybe that would have been preferable to being treated to the sight of that damn bowl-shaped haircut, neutral faced expression, and vibrant yellow eyes.  He took a step back, bracing himself and fully expecting another fight.

What he got instead, was a smile.

"You have no idea how much I want to say, 'It's good to see you again, partner'," the person that looked like Seito finally said, and Adachi could not help but let out a surprised noise at that.  _Partner…?_

"You're…" he began, but the boy cut him off with a shake of his head.

"I am a 'version' of Seito, yes," he began.  "On my world, I gathered my team and pursued the murderer… however, when I discovered who it was, that it was a man I considered part of my family… I couldn't bring myself to expose him."

Adachi felt a chill run down his spine at that, and he swallowed hard.  So, there were even worlds where "Seito" would join him, but none other than this one where he actually did the right thing?  The question was poised on his lips, and again, he could not get it out before the boy was shaking his head.  Apparently it was time for him to listen, because it seemed like no matter what, he was going to get interrupted.

"I believed there was some hope in him," he continued.  "I thought I could find it; show him that the world as it was, was not such a terrible place.  But no matter how much I supported him, he grew worse… until he finally considered me a liability."

Despite the grim topic, the boy still smiled.

"But you proved I was right," he said, his voice soft and gentle, the complete opposite of the Seito he was used to dealing with.  "Watching you grow and change made everything I went through in my reality so, _so_ worth it."

He approached him then, reaching a hand out to him.

"Thank you."

Adachi found himself hesitating, an uncertain feeling churning in his gut.

"Seito…"

The boy shook his head again.  "Please, call me Gabriel."

Adachi opened his mouth to respond, before his shoulders and expression slumped.  Michael and Gabriel?  They named themselves after _angels?_ Those two were so far removed from being angelic, the ridiculousness was almost biblical.  Gabriel laughed at his expression, and it was a moment before Adachi could pull himself together enough to let out an exasperated noise, finally reaching out to take his hand.  He felt something round and hard pressed between them, and he held onto it as Gabriel let go, turning it over in his palm.  It was small and smooth, almost looking like a pearl, except for the swirl of color that floated almost lazily within.

"You can already see the truth.  You've already shaken off the lies and deceit that plagued you and this world," Gabriel explained, a bit of a mischievous look coming to his face.  "…but it doesn't hurt to have a little help with the tough lies."

It was a moment before he could manage it, but that was enough to finally get Adachi to smile again for the first time in weeks.  Gabriel gave him a small nod, trusting in the fact that he knew what to do now, before fading away, like he had not even been there.

Adachi looked down at the stone in his hand, the unease and the fear and the horrible, horrible gut wrenching feeling that everything he had been doing was for nothing ebbing away as he did so.  Hope… he had hope, and it did not matter what reality it was or what his role was in that world.  He just happened to have grasped it where others did not… or maybe even did not _yet._ It was never too late for someone to find hope, right?

He clutched the stone in his hand, determination crossing his face before he tossed it up into the air.  It shone with a blinding brilliance, light piercing through the white haze of the fog and…

He was back.

Red and black floor and an endless expanse greeted his vision as he found himself standing before the hulking mass that was Izanami again.  Only instead of the figure bound entirely in white, she had changed once more, and definitely not for the better.  Now she looked like the dead figure straight out of Shinto legend, with a multi-limbed, massive skeletal frame, blood red and rotting all over, to the point where he half expected it to smell.  Her bare skull stared down at him, and despite the empty eye sockets, he could clearly feel the surprise coming from her.

_"You…?!"_

After everything he had been through, all the fights with Shadows, the endless investigations, one dead body after another, seeing the people he had come to care for hurt again and again, and finally dragged off into the abyss…

…all Adachi could do was stare up at Izanami and laugh.

"Man, you are _ugly."_

He was not really surprised when Izanami's response to that was to shoot lightning at him.  Adachi flinched at the attack, but despite what was obviously something meant to fry him where he stood, it did not seem to bother him so much.  Actually, it did not even hurt at all, and when he realized it, he found himself standing up straight, just to prove that she could not touch him.

_"No… not like this… not by your hand!"_

Adachi's hands balled into fists, before he took a step forward.  The hands from before rose from the ground, trying to grab for him, but they passed right through his legs as if they were not even there.  A frantic noise escaped from Izanami, and lightning came crashing down around him again.  One blast hit him square in the face, cracking his glasses in half and forcing him to stumble backward as the pieces fell away.  He almost swore under his breath, prepared to start squinting his way forward, until he realized he could _still see._

_He could see through all the lies._

He started forward again as Izanami's skeletal hands, fingers long and claw like, came down on him, gouging out large chunks of the ground around him and missing Adachi entirely.  That made him stop again, standing between two large craters dug out from her hands, staring up at the massive creature before him.

"What's wrong?  Afraid of a little truth?" he sneered.

 _"You are not meant for this!"_ she practically screeched at him.  _"This is not the role you are meant to play!"_

"You know what?  I don't give a damn," Adachi snapped back.  "I busted my way through every lie, both in front of me and within me, to be standing here, just so I can tell you _no._ I don't care what I was 'meant' for; _this is who I am."_

Adachi held his hand out, the Fool Arcana card responding to his call.  Only instead of crushing it and calling on Izanagi like he normally would, he flung his arm out, the Fool card sailing around him and trailing a line of other cards along with it.  Magician, Priestess, Empress, Emperor; every link he forged, every Arcana he earned appeared around him, until all twenty-one were following after his own Arcana, surrounding him in a brilliant blue ring.  The Fool came to a stop in front of him, but the other cards kept going, rejoining the Fool and making the card glow brighter and brighter, until Judgment finally disappeared within, and the Fool came to the end of his journey.

He had found his World.

_"Izanagi!"_

The World Arcana shattered before him, but instead of the usual Izanagi, the figure that appeared was different.  A white coat billowed out behind Adachi as the Persona materialized, holding a large sword with a circular hand guard.  His helmet was sharp and angular, and glowing red eyes glared out from the slits on it, staring down Izanami despite barely even being an eighth of her size.  His Persona slung his sword off of his shoulder as Adachi flung his hand out in command, and Izanagi-no-Okami shot out, his blade cutting through the goddess with ease.  Fragments of bone fell away into the endless expanse or onto the platform, shaking the entire area as Izanami screamed in rage.

_"No!  NO!  Not here too!  This was meant to be mine!  My World!"_

"There's no place for you in this world!" Adachi snapped back as his Persona backed off, settling just before him.  "This world isn't meant for gods anymore.  Humanity is grown, Izanami!  It doesn't need you nitpicking over us!"

Izanagi-no-Okami held his sword out, and the blade hovered before him.  It spun around the hilt, generating a circle of light that shot out, piercing through what was left of Izanami's body.  Her lower half started to crumble, and the fog around her began to pull back, shying away from the light of truth that his Persona generated.  Despite the fact that she was quickly falling away, Izanami could only let out a faint chuckle.

 _"'Humanity has grown', hm?"_ she replied.  _"Amazing how you, of all people, are the one to point this out."_

Her bottom half completely fell away then, leaving only her clawed upper set of arms and her head intact.  Even that was starting to fade away, and she let out a soft sigh of defeat.

_"Very well.  Then I shall watch from afar the path humanity has chosen, though I cannot guarantee that it will lead to happiness."_

Adachi let out a breath he did not realize he was holding at that, letting his arm drop.

"Then we'll find happiness," he said.  "Even if we can't see it right away, it'll be there for us."

A faint chuckle escaped from Izanami one last time, and her skull started to disappear, crumpling away into dust and scattering into the far reaches of Yomi.

_"Indeed.  You have earned as much.  Son of man… well done."_


	53. Chapter Forty-two – Nevermore

Adachi was not sure when he had passed out, or if he had even passed out.  All he knew was that he witnessed the last of Izanami fading off into nothingness, and then… well, nothing himself.  He did not become aware that things had changed until he heard the sound of water rushing around him, and he opened his eyes to stare in awe at his new surroundings.  Gone were the red and black halls and the endless, all consuming fog.  Instead, he found himself staring out at a river, cutting through the fertile land around him.  Trees swayed slightly in the delicate, warm breeze, and he could make out birds chirping over the sounds of the river.

It was utterly beautiful, and he doubted a place like it existed in the real world.  At the same time, it felt so familiar, like if he looked across the river just right, he would be able to see a stone covered hill with steps leading straight down to the embankment.

He really did not deserve to be enjoying this by himself.

The thought hit him straight in the gut, and Adachi felt himself slouching back, his arms coming to wrap around himself.  Sure, he had beaten Izanami and saved Inaba – hell, saved the _world –_ but the cost had been far, far too great.  How the heck was he supposed to explain it to anyone?  To Nanako?  Hey, your father is dead, but the rest of us get to go on living?  He pressed a hand to his forehead, feeling like he was going to be sick, and—

"Adachi-san!"

He froze at the familiar voice, spinning around to see them, standing up on the hill just behind him.  Saki was waving at him energetically, like she had not just been dragged down to her death moments ago, with the others just behind her, like they were going to start barreling down the hill any second.  She beat them to it, of course; running as fast as her legs could carry her and launching herself into Adachi so hard he almost fell back into the water when he caught her.  It took him a moment for everything to click, and he found himself spinning her around in overwhelming relief as the others finally caught up.

Cries of "senpai", "Adachi", and "sensei" rang out over the water as they all collapsed into a big group hug, the warm sun beaming down on them from above.

~.oOOo.~

Even after everything that had happened, that voice was still singing somewhere in the depths of the Velvet Room.

Michael and Igor were in their usual seats, though this time Gabriel was joining them, sitting across from his attendant friend and looking very much like he had received a stern scolding for interfering as he had.  That still didn't keep him from turning an almost devilish smile toward him once he appeared, offering him a little wink as well.  He could not help but shake his head, privately wondering what kind of life this "Seito" had lived that made him so much more open than his counterpart.

"Welcome, to the Velvet Room," Igor greeted him.  "At last, you have reached the end of this road, and achieved power great enough to expel even a god.  For one who became our guest so late on his journey, you have _far_ exceeded my expectations.  You have been a marvelous guest to have."

He stared at Igor in surprise, a slow smile working its way onto his face at the compliment.

"The truth you fought for is the same as we have all fought to achieve, with varying results," Michael added, glancing across the way at Gabriel.  "…some of us with better results than others."

If Gabriel was bothered by that, he did not show it.  Instead, he kept his focus on him, the barest of smiles on his face.

"You've earned the brilliant world you've found beneath the lies," he said softly, a bit of a knowing look coming to his face.  "Is it really bad for an adult to sit back and enjoy such a place?"

He hesitated at that, mouth posed to ask what he meant, but he could not get the words to come out.  No, he already knew what Gabriel was talking about, and he could feel a churning in his gut, wanting to do the right thing, and yet…

"Go now," Igor ordered, folding his hands beneath his impressive nose.  "The new World awaits you."

~.oOOo.~

Adachi did not want it to be March twenty-first.

His companions were behind him, ready and waiting for their turn to see him off privately, away from the little crowd that had come with their well wishes.  It felt more like the entire town had learned he was leaving, and unfortunately that included Kashiwagi, who had his arm in her vise-like claws.  He could feel the deadly glare from Sayoko burning a hole into the back of his head as the school teacher continued to hug his arm close to her chest, and he almost looked back to beg for help from Dojima, if he was not so sure his partner was desperately trying not to crack up.  Kashiwagi pouted up at him, her full, overly painted lips looking like they were taking up half her face.

"Oh, you _will_ come back, won't you?" she asked, though it sounded more like a demand.  "Or at least write?  Or text?"

He had a feeling she meant a different kind of texting, and Adachi almost gagged at the thought.

"Y-yeah, I'll keep in touch," he promised, quietly promising himself that it would only be as much as necessary.

"The diner won't be the same without you," Aika added as Kashiwagi finally let him have his arm back.  "When you come back next, you can have the special on the house."

Adachi grinned at that one, giving her a thumbs up.  "Yeah, I'll work hard and be sure I can finish it next time."

She gave a nod at that as Yuuta started tugging at his leg, forcing Adachi to crouch down.

"Hey, come back so you can check up on me, okay?  I'll show you how responsible I'm being!"

He let out a small laugh at that, planting his hand on the kid's head.  "I know.  You'll keep making your mothers proud; I don't need to be around to see that," he assured him… before he dropped his voice, "…and Pink Argus is still the best Featherman."

Yuuta puffed his cheeks out at him.  "Nuh-unh, Black Condor totally is!"

Banter went back and forth, and goodbyes and good lucks were said, some a little more tearful than others.  It felt like forever before the crowd finally dispersed, leaving just their little group of Persona users and Nanako.  Adachi turned to look at his team, before they quietly walked into the train station, huddling together on the platform to wait for the train.  The sakura blossoms had begun to bloom that morning, and the platform and tracks were nearly covered with the light pink petals.  At least Adachi had gotten to see them here before he left; it really did make the town look… beautiful.  He never thought he would think that about a place, and it did not help the unsettled feeling in his gut that had started when he woke up that morning and persisted even now.

Why did this feel so wrong?

"So, this is it," Dojima began, his tone carefully neutral.

"Y-yeah…" Adachi replied.

A sniffling sound started then, and he looked down just in time to see Rise burst out into full on waterfalls of tears.  He knew she was overacting on purpose, but… well, he appreciated the sentiment all the same.

"Th-this isn't f-fair!" she wailed.  "W-why d-does Adachi-s-san have to leave?!"

"H-hey, c'mon!" Kanji shouted at her, if only to hide a little sniffle on his part.  "It's too soon to start crying!"

Adachi shook his head before he could stop himself, that unsettling feeling only getting worse.  He was going to miss this… he was going to miss them.  Even as he thought that, Rise suddenly stopped crying, as if she had not even started.

"Oh well.  I can always request the police department assign Adachi-san as my bodyguard whenever I'm in the city," she said, getting exasperated expressions from everyone else in the group.  Naoto let out a faint cough, pulling her hat close to her eyes.

"W-well, I'm certain I will receive consultation requests from the city as well," she began, hiding her embarrassment as much as she could.  "I'm certain we'll see each other, even before you return here for a visit."

"When you visit, I'll be sure to keep a room open for you, Adachi-san," Yukiko assured him.  "Please come by as soon as you can."

"Yeah, man," Kanji added.  "This place'll be really boring without you around."

"I won't forgive you if you just leave and forget all about us," Sayoko pointed out, still looking sour about the fact he was leaving.  Adachi smiled faintly, moving to reach out and place a hand on her shoulder, but thought better of it.  Somehow, he got the feeling he would not have gotten his hand back if he did.

A faint noise escaped from Nanako then, and all eyes turned toward her, seeing she was clutching her father's hand and trying not to cry.  She let go of him after a moment, shooting across the small distance between them and clinging to Adachi's legs.

"I don't want you to go!" she cried.  "It's not fair!  Why do Seito-kun and Adachi-san have to leave!?"

Adachi felt like he was stabbed in the heart at that, and he managed to pull away from her enough so he could kneel down beside her.

"Hey… I'll come back, Nanako-chan," he assured her softly, wrapping his arms around her in a tight hug.  "I can't stay away from you; that's a crime, you know?"

She sniffled, but still managed to let out a soft giggle at that, holding him as tight as her little arms would let her.  Adachi's hand rubbed at her back, even as he looking up at Dojima, just in time to see that stern expression of his cracking a little.

"…you're probably going to be the best partner I'll ever have," he admitted softly, glancing away a moment to hide his embarrassment.  "You'd better come back.  You're still a rookie, you know?  You're not going to learn anything from those city detectives."

Adachi let out an exasperated noise at that, finally letting go of Nanako, watching as she ran back to her father's side.  He stood up straight then, just as Teddie stepped forward a little, worrying his fingers and hesitating to look up at him.

"Sensei…" he began.  "Thank you.  Thank you so much.  If it weren't for you… well, I'd still be a lonely little bear."

Adachi paused a moment, and that time he did reach out, planting a hand on Teddie's head, rubbing it fondly.  He let out a happy noise, and he had a feeling if he was in his bear suit, his ears and tail would be wiggling back and forth.  Teddie peered up at him, flashing him a brave, happy smile.

"I'm gonna be on my best behavior with Pops, you'll see!" he exclaimed, just as Dojima mouthed a very confused, "Pops?" behind him.  "I'll go to work every day with Saki-chan, and I'll save up money to go to a big time school, just like you.  I'll keep watch over the other world too, so nothing like this ever happens again."

"You're going to be a beary busy bear," Adachi quipped, looking a little proud of himself at managing to let out that pun without gagging.  Teddie beamed at that, rocking back and forth on his feet.

"The beariest!" he exclaimed.

Adachi mused up his hair, before letting his hand drop, his gaze making its way over to Saki.  She had been quiet the whole time, and when she finally looked up at him, all she could manage was a sad looking smile.

"I guess this is really the end," she said softly.  "It still feels like last year… that there isn't a case, and Yosuke…"

Adachi paused at that, feeling that gut wrenching unsettled feeling again, before he managed to hold his arms out.  She hesitated barely a moment, before going over, wrapping her arms around him in a hug.

"Thank you," she murmured.  "Thank you, for everything."

It was a moment before she could pull away without looking teary eyed, and she flashed him a playful smile.

"Come push me in a TV again anytime, okay?" she teased, and Adachi snorted out a laugh.

"Never intentionally," he promised.

She was about to respond, when the announcer's voice came over the loudspeaker above them, announcing that the train was coming, and people heading on needed to stay in their designated area until it was stopped.  Adachi looked between all of them again, feeling his stomach bottom out.  This was really it… he was really leaving Inaba…  They all stood together in silence as the train rolled in, and he could only feel that hole in his gut growing as the seconds ticked by slowly.

It felt like days before he found himself staring at the open door to the train, a numb feeling settling over his whole body.  Adachi hesitated, looking back at everyone and the forced smiles on their faces.  They were trying to be encouraging, but he knew; they did not want him to go as much as he did not want to leave.

"…I'm off," he murmured, finally stepping onto the train.

The doors closed behind Adachi, and not long after, the train started to pull itself away from the platform.  Saki was the first to push herself from the group, chasing after the train as far as the platform would allow her, waving as enthusiastically as she could in hopes that he would see her from the train window.  She did not stop until she hit the railing, both hands flying out to brace herself as the others crowded around her.

 _"Adachi-san!"_ she shouted at the departing train.  _"You better come back!  You're a part of this town now, you hear me!?"_

She could feel a twinge of disappointment in her gut when he did not even stick his head out the window to wave back at them.  She could understand _why;_ leaving was difficult enough for him, but… dammit, it had barely been a couple of seconds, and she was already missing that idiot.

Reluctantly, one by one, their group pulled away from the railing and the quickly departing train.  They all ended up stopping dead immediately after turning around, nearly bumping into each other in the process.

There, on the other side of the station, where passengers would get off the train… was Adachi.

He just stood there, staring at the ground like he could not understand why he was looking at it.  It was a long moment before he could lift his head to look at them, and he stared overly long before his head dropped again and he started forward.  He jumped down onto the tracks, only to pull himself back up onto their side, feet scrambling against the concrete for a good minute before he managed to get back up.

Adachi started forward until he was just a few feet away from them before he stopped, finally looking back at them and the mute looks of disbelief on their faces.  He let out a soft sigh, fidgeting where he stood.

"…I couldn't do it," he finally said.  "No matter how much I wanted to go back to the city, no matter how much I wanted to be a big time cop… this is home.  This is what I need."

It was a moment before anyone could move, and again it was Saki that shot forward first, hugging him tight before punching him in the arm as hard as she could.

"Don't _do that!"_ she yelled at him, struggling against the tears in her eyes as she hit him again.  "Make up your mind _sooner_ next time, will you!?"

Adachi let out a faint yelp as he was hit, reaching over to rub at his arm as Teddie shot over to cling to him tightly.  The others were soon to crowd around, and Adachi had to endure a few more hits to his arm, and one to his leg and the back of his head thanks to Nanako and Dojima respectively, but everyone had a tight hug for him in the end.  He let out a faint, happy sounding sigh when they all finally settled, a sheepish laugh following soon after.

"Man, we have way too many group hugs," he commented.

"It's to keep you from doing something stupid," Kanji replied.

"Clearly it doesn't work," Dojima added.

Adachi let out another laugh at that, wrapping his arms around as many of them as he could.  Study hard, get into a good school, find a good job, and have a good family, hunh?  When he stalled out on the job part of that belief, he thought for certain he would never get the rest of what he wanted.  Now, though…  It was unconventional, and certainly in the last place he would have expected to find it, but this?  This was definitely a family, one that he could without a doubt say was all his own.

What more could he have possibly needed in this world?


	54. Epilogue

"Welcome, to the Velvet Room."

It was Gabriel's turn in the attendant's seat at Igor's side, and despite his usual neutral expression, he could not help but feel a little thrill at finally being given the opportunity to serve a guest himself.  Time did not mean much in a room such as this, one that existed in the sea of the unconscious mind, but it still felt like an eternity since Ma— _Michael_ had pulled him from his doomed timeline, offering him a chance to finally see what he had been trying so desperately to find.  Of course, he could not just _leave_ after getting that opportunity, however; there was so much more he felt he needed to do and see, and being assigned to a guest was definitely the first step toward getting more of what he wanted.

His guest, however…

Gabriel kept an even gaze on him, as if silently judging the young man seated before him.  He did not budge on what he had declared after Igor had explained the purpose of the Room, however, and Gabriel could feel his hands wanting to curl around the Compendium on his lap.  It was a moment before found the voice to speak, laying his hands flat on the cover of the book.

"I see, so you do not desire our services at this time," he replied, his voice even and calm as always, hiding what he was really thinking.  "That is your right, as an invited guest.  Should you change your mind, our door will be open to you."

A faint, devilish smile worked its way onto his face then.

"I look forward to the day I may aid you in your journey, Minazuki Sho."


End file.
